


One Hit Wonder

by Gaarin



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: 3RACHA, Changbin is a lonely soul, Consistent Mentions of alcohol & food, Has anyone ever told you that Lee Felix is an angel, I did mention other ships didn’t I, M/M, One day I’ll stop being mean to Jisung, Posted also on my Twitter|hanniesaurus, Side Ships, Slow Burn, Social media & text incorporated, Strangers to Lovers, Updates on Mondays, baker!felix
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 40,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28550859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaarin/pseuds/Gaarin
Summary: Changlix AU where the rules of Slapjack are a bit different down in Australia.Unbeknown to this, Changbin suggests playing this with Felix while waiting on the always-late Jisung to arrive at his own apartment.
Relationships: Lee Felix/Seo Changbin
Comments: 68
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had notes here and I don’t know what happened to them, but...
> 
> Welcome back to my new story~ So glad you found it. I really hope you stick around and enjoy what I have planned ☆〜（ゝ。∂）

**J1sung**

( Hyung! )

( Sorry, I’m running a bit late )

( I don’t want you to be awkwardly waiting at the door though so you can let yourself in )

( The code is 91415 )

  
  


( I’m glad you said something )

( I would have felt stupid knocking on it with no one there )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Awe, hyung )

( You don’t have to do that to feel stupid 🥰 )

  
  


( You’re right )

( I could just forget the lyrics that I wrote myself when rehearsing instead )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I am so sorry. 😞 )

( I’ll be there soon )

  
  
  


“That damn cheeky Jisung,” Changbin muttered under his breath as he memorized the passcode to Jisung’s apartment before shoving his phone into the pocket of his tight-fitting black jeans.

It has only been a handful of months now that they’ve made themselves acquainted and in even less time have made themselves known as 3RACHA along with their leader, Bang Chan. They met by chance at an underground rap event. Though they each had different styles, the three meshed well together. So much that they joined hands in making music together as a group.

These days they’ve been working on material to have enough to claim multiple albums. Usually work was done at Changbin’s place since he had the privilege to have an entire studio setup in one room. But since the only work him and Jisung had to do was writing lyrics, the latter offered for Changbin to come to his apartment instead. The reason; Jisung was just far too lazy to make the extra mile to Changbin’s place of living. But Changbin; being the nice hyung that he was, had agreed to Jisung’s request and made his way to the apartment door. He just hoped that Jisung would bring him something to make up for being late and causing him to wait alone in his apartment.

Carefully he entered the code into the pad on the door and waited until the ding to push down on the handle and open it. Stepping inside, he was greeted with the low sound of the tv playing something in a foreign language from the living room. Leaving his shoes at the door, he moved towards it to see what was on. There was no doubt to him that Jisung had been the one to forget to turn it off until he heard a voice speak out to him.

_ “Oh Jisung, I’m still here for a little bit. My first class got cancelled today so I’ll be leaving a little later.” _

Stopping just inside the living room, Changbin was faced with a blonde haired guy outfitted in a plain white tee with a blue striped button up hanging loosely around his frame. The mystery boy was hunched over on the couch, busying himself with creating a house made out of playing cards on the coffee table in front of him. Obviously he hadn’t noticed who walked in considering the fact that he said Jisung’s name.

Even with his face tilted down, Changbin could still clearly see the features of his face. The boy was lightly biting his bottom lip in concentration as he tried his best to very lightly balance two cards against each other to make a new level on his house. Or pyramid. Or whatever it was exactly he was trying to make with the deck.

Without saying a word, Changbin gave a quick glance around for whoever else was in the apartment. Surely the deep voice he heard had not come from the sweet face that sat in front of him. Coming up short of finding anyone else, Changbin managed to ask a small, “is anyone else here?”

The boy jumped slightly at the sound of Changbin’s voice, causing the house of cards to fall down. Clearly he was not expecting someone other than Jisung to be in the apartment. Slowly the boy looked up to see who it was standing in the doorway and set the card in his hand down on the table with the rest of the fallen cards.

_ “You’re not Jisung…” _

  
  
  


( HYUNG )

( HELP )

( Wait no. I shouldn’t be texting you )

( Actually no I do need you- )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( ??? )

( Are you good? )

( Why shouldn’t you be texting me? )

  
  


( Someone’s in Jisung’s apartment. He told me to let myself in but this dude is not him and he speaks English and I don’t know English very well as we all know so I don’t know how far I can get in this conversation )

( I need to get off my phone he’s staring at me )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( You mean his roommate?? )

( Felix? The one he lives with? )

  
  


( brb )

  
  
  


There was no way that Changbin could get Chan to quickly translate some things for him without him seeming like a weirdo, so Changbin took this matter into his own hands. The boy was still waiting on him to speak, after all. He knew Jisung had a roommate, but there was no face associated with it and he had no clue he would be foreign.  _ If _ this was even him. He was still trying to process how the voice could possibly match the face.

_ “Uh… h-hello _ ,” Changbin stammered out with a small wave of little confidence. English was most definitely not his strong suit.  _ “I, uh… Jisung’s _ \- ugh, what’s the word for friend-“ he cut his own sentence off in thought before finish with, “ah,  _ Jisung’s friend.” _

Narrowing his eyes in thought for a moment, the boy hopped up with an apologetic look on his face. “Oh! I’m sorry! No, I speak Korean too,” the boy explained, ruffling the side of his hair in nervousness. “I thought you were Jisung, sorry. Uhm, I’m Felix. I live here with Jisung. Sorry, I didn’t know he was expecting company.”

The sound of fluent Korean coming into Changbin’s ears released a heavy sigh from inside of him that he didn’t know that he was holding in. How thankful was he that the other- Felix, as he was called, knew Korean too. It made him instantly feel more at ease despite him feeling like he was intruding. Why was Felix apologizing so much? By the way the deep voiced boy was still standing, Changbin figured he must have felt bad for not knowing about his arrival.

“No, it’s okay,” Changbin waved his hands in front of him to reiterate that it really was okay. “I’m Changbin. I’m sorry for startling you. I- Jisung told me to let myself in. He didn’t tell me someone else would be here too.”

Gradually Felix let himself sink back onto the couch cushion, trying to relax himself once more. “Changbin,” he repeated to more so himself than to anyone else, nodding in acknowledgment. Something was processing through his mind as he let the name escape his lips in almost a whisper. “That’s right, you’re also in 3RACHA. Sorry, I haven’t gotten around to meeting you yet, but I’ve heard about you from Jisung. But uhm, actually right now I’d be on my way to class usually but my first one of the night got cancelled. I didn’t mention it to Jisung so he didn’t know I’d still be here. I won’t be here for long, so you don’t have to worry about me bothering you two.”

Gosh he was saying so many things at this point he had to find a way to pipe down for a second and let Changbin process it all. Having a stranger such as Changbin waltz into his apartment was not on his agenda today so of course it would make him a bit anxious. Also with it being one of Jisung’s friends. All he knew so far was Chan. Well, also Hyunjin too, but they weren’t nearly as close. The two Aussies instantly hit it off their first meeting. With the way the two of them were raised in the same place, they had plenty to talk about. Now it was like the two of them were brothers. Instead of continuing to ramble on, Felix tried to focus on the cards in front of him.

“It’s alright, I feel bad for walking in unannounced,” Changbin admitted as he finally found the will to approach the coach that the boy sat on. “Jisung said he wouldn’t take too long to get here.”

“Since I have some time before I go,” Felix started as he organized the cards into two neat stacks. “Do you want to play a card game or something while you wait? Do you know any?”

“Card games?” Changbin had to think about that one. The first one that popped into his head was slapjack. It was one he played with Minho quite often. The elder had always beat him every game because of his cat-like reflexes. Changbin was sure that he was just a cat invading a human body with that quick of reflexes. “Do you know slapjack?”

The question caused Felix to freeze and shoot him a questionable look with wide eyes. “Slapjack? Are you serious?”

“What?” Changbin sat down beside Felix on the couch with half a cushion of distance between them. “Do you not have fast enough reflexes for it?”

“No- I just-“ Felix’s mouth hung agape as he tried to make sure he was understanding correctly. “You really want to play slapjack?”

“Yeah, get the cards ready,” Changbin nodded, fully determined to play the game.

“You sound sure of yourself, so okay…” Felix hesitated before sticking all the cards into the deck so he could shuffle them.

  
  
  


( Okay. So it was his roommate )

( I’ve just never seen a picture of him before and I definitely was not expecting that voice- )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( It is a bit of a surprise at first )

( But he should be at class right now. What’s he doing there? )

  
  


( He said his first class got cancelled so he’s leaving a bit later )

( And since Jisung is running late, Felix said he would keep me occupied so I wouldn’t be bored )

( Gotta go. I have a game of slapjack to win )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Wait. )

( Slapjack?? )

( NO CHANGBIN DONT )

( ITS NOT WHAT YOU PLAY WITH MINHO )

  
  
  


**Chan**

@cb97

Oh no Changbin 😭🪦

**Minho** @meowho

What’s wrong with Changbin??

**Chan** @cb97

@meowho hopefully not much 😥

  
  


**Chan**

@cb97

@j0ne I need you to pick up the pace

**Jisung** @j0ne

Oooh. That sounds like a fire song 🔥

  
  


**Chan**

@cb97

No one can tell me I didn’t try

  
  
  


With Felix’s phone forgotten in the bedroom, all of Chan’s warning calls went over to voicemail as Felix dealt the stack in between himself and Changbin. Each card was placed face down in front of their crossed legs until the entire stack was dealt.

Changbin lightly picked up his stack and pressed his fingers against the edges of them until they were all in the same position. His eyes were fixed on them in determination. How many times has he played this with Minho now, gambling away money as he was beaten time and time again? Surely he would be able to win against Felix. Even if there was nothing on the table, he couldn’t let himself lose.

“Since I dealt, I’ll let you be the first to put a card down,” Felix offered as he played with his own cards in his hands. 

With a small nod, Changbin pulled the top card from his deck and flipped it over onto the cushion space between them. Felix watched Changbin first instead of the actual card as it would be unlikely that the first card would be a jack. In the lack of Changbin’s frantic movement, Felix knew for sure that it was a normal card. Slowly he let his eyes off the older and sway down to the stack in his hands. Both of the boy’s eyes were stuck on the deck now, not daring to look away from it. Neither moved as it wasn’t a Jack so Changbin took his turn in placing down another card. They went about this for a minute or so.

Both grew more and more anxious as the stack grew bigger. It was as if their deck had a complete absence of Jacks in it. Just when they thought neither of them would set down a Jack, Changbin finally flipped one over.

Eyes growing wide, he bent his fingers back to him before he threw his hand down towards the card. It was a shame that Felix was faster.

In a pure spike of adrenaline, Felix reached forward until his hand came into contact with Changbin’s cheek. Not having expected it, the force was enough to send the older boy flying off the couch and onto the floor. On his way down, Changbin’s temple smacked straight into the side of the coffee table. The strike was just somehow enough to knock him clean out.

The hand that struck Changbin flew to Felix’s mouth as he sat there in complete shock of what just happened. Why had Changbin tried to go for the card? It wasn’t determined it was his yet. Why was he on the floor now? Well- Felix  _ knew _ why he was on the floor. He had hit him. But Changbin did nothing to try and dodge it or even hit him back.

A moment passed with Felix in a frozen state, completely unable to react. Not a single breath escaped him as he tried to process the image of Changbin laying unconscious on his floor.

All at once he scrambled into a squat beside him, pushing the coffee table well out the way from them despite it being too late to save anything at this point. Gently Felix tried to shake Changbin awake by his arm.

“H-hey… Changbin hyung. Wake up…”

To no avail was Changbin responding to the shaking. Still he laid with his eyes closed and lips slightly parted.

“Hyung…?” Felix tried again with still no luck. He twisted his fingers into his hair, shaking his head. “ _ Oh no… this isn’t good- Jisung!” _

Shooting up, Felix ran towards his room and grabbed his phone. The screen was already lit up with Chan’s name. Without a second thought Felix tapped on the accept button and brought it to his ear.

“ _ Chan hyung! Something bad happened- I did something bad,” _ Felix’s voice was higher as he began to panic.

_ “Hey listen, I already know,” _ Chan said, trying his best to sound calm so that Felix would match his tone.  _ “I tried to warn Changbin but I guess he already put his phone away before you guys started playing.” _

_ “No, seriously _ ,” Felix shook his head in distraught.  _ “I knocked him out. He’s out cold.” _

There was something on the other line that Felix couldn’t quite catch.  _ “He’s what?” _

_ “I didn’t mean to!” _ Felix practically whined in a slight yell.  _ “It doesn’t really help that I’m a heavy hitter, but hyung I feel so bad right now! This was my first time meeting him and I just- what do I do? He’s knocked out. Should I take him to the hospital? I’ll skip class tonight and go-” _

_ “Calm down for just a moment. It’s going to be okay, I promise. Just put some ice on his head for the time being and I’m going to try to call Jisung again.” _

Sighing out an uneven breath until Felix’s shoulders sagged, he nodded slowly before responding with, “ _ okay, bye, Chan hyung.” _

  
  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I messed up 😰

**Seungmin** @suengmong

Your school work? Do you need help?

**Felix** @fabulix

@seungmong not that, but thank you 🥺

  
  
  


“What do you mean? I’m walking in the door right now.”

Jisung finally entered the apartment with one hand holding two coffees and the other opening the door. His neck was craned to keep his phone in place between his ear and his shoulder. After the fifth missed call from Chan, he finally picked up.

“Changbin hyung?” He repeated as he worked at pulling his shoes off with his feet. “Well, I told him the passcode to my apartment so he should be right… here…”

In the midst of stepping into the doorway to the living room, he was met with the sight of Changbin laying on his couch and Felix seated beside him on the floor. The latter was hovered over the former, positioning a bag of ice to the side of his head.

The sound of Jisung’s phone falling to the floor caused Felix to pick his head up and look behind him. Jisung was standing in place with his mouth hung open in shock. Before he could ever find it in him to move, Felix was already bolting up and running straight for him.

_ “Jisung! I’m so sorry! Please don’t hate me! I didn’t mean to hurt your friend or even knock him out- it just kinda happened- see, we were playing this game and-“ _

Felix’s mouth was running at a hundred miles per second. Sometimes Jisung wondered if Felix could beat Changbin in a fast rap contest. Jisung set the two coffees down on the table beside him before clutching onto Felix’s biceps with both hands. “Wait, wait, wait. Felix. I can’t keep up when you talk like that, slow down please.”

_ “I- sorry,” _ Felix apologized for the thousandth time this night while fumbling around with his hands. After taking in a deep breath as best he could, he tried again.

“Your friend. We were playing a game and I accidentally knocked him out,” Felix summarized; more slowly this time. “I’m really sorry, Jisung. Please don’t hate me. I just wanted to keep him occupied while he was waiting on you. I feel really bad.”

The look in Felix’s eyes were truly apologetic as he tried his best to meet his friend’s eyes. Still he found himself dropping his head in disappointment. He knew he messed up. It all happened so fast too. So many emotions were running through him all at once. The scariest of them all was the thought of both Jisung and Changbin hating him now for what he did.

Out of surprise to Felix, Jisung tenderly pulled him into a hug. The slow movements of Jisung’s hand on his back instantly calmed his nerves. It was enough for Felix to fall quiet and rest his chin on Jisung’s shoulder. Hugging Felix like this was the quickest way Jisung knew to get him to calm down.

“Hey, Felix. It’s going to be alright. I don’t hate you. What happened was just an accident, right? So don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Jisung’s voice was delicate as he spoke and Felix was grateful for it. Jisung wasn’t mad at him. This was good. Now the only thing he had left to worry about was whether or not Changbin would be okay and whether or not he would hate him. Or hate Jisung because of him. He didn’t want that. He would hate himself even more if it came to that.

“Don’t you have classes tonight?”

Jisung was already pulling himself away from the other as he moved to where Changbin was laying. Lightly he picked up the ice pack to inspect the condition of his head. It was a little red; probably from the coldness of the ice, but other than that he looked alright.

“My first one was cancelled so I was leaving later than usual. But I can skip today,” Felix offered, resembling a meerkat in the way he was leaning over to try and see Changbin. “I just want to make sure he’s okay and tell him I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay,” Jisung shook his head, looking towards Felix now. “I don’t want you to miss anything so don’t worry. I’ll take over from here,” he promised with a smile before shooing him away with a hand. “Now go, don’t be late.”

“O-okay,” Felix stammered with reluctance before running to his room to get his bag. Since he kept everything in it, he didn’t have to waste any time finding anything. “I’ll be leaving now. Please tell him I’m sorry,” he called out before finally heading out the door.

After watching Felix leave, Jisung looked back to Changbin and lightly tapped his slightly red cheek. “Hyung. Wake up. Hyung?” When he still made no movement, Jisung pushed himself to his feet and made way for the fridge.

Leaning against the door in thought, Jisung surveyed the contents. He dropped down to a squat and rummaged through one of the drawers until he found what he was looking for. A single lemon was pulled out before the drawer was closed back and Jisung could shut the refrigerator door.

The lemon was then placed down on a small green cutting board so Jisung could find a knife to cut it with. One end was cut off just enough so a full circle of the inside was exposed. The part of skin that was cut off was discarded, the knife was washed off and put away, and Jisung took the lemon with him back to Changbin.

Kneeling back down beside his friend, Jisung brought the open side of the lemon right under Changbin’s nose. Just when he thought it wasn’t working; that maybe he hadn’t exposed enough of it, Changbin opened his eyes and moved to where he was propping himself up on his arms.

“Oh, hyung! You’re awake!”

Changbin closed his eyes again for a second as he brought a hand to the side of his head that was aching. He noticed the ice pack sitting beside him on the couch then looked to Jisung.

“What the fuck…”

Jisung leaned his face in close to Changbin’s, looking deep into his eyes. “Are you okay? Do you know where you are? Do you remember what happened? What do you see?”

“A very annoying squirrel that was late in coming home to his own apartment,” Changbin glared at him.

“Is your vision okay?”

“What- Jisung, yes. I can see just fine.” Changbin moved into a sitting position so he could hunch over and hold his head. “My head hurts like hell, though.”

“You still have your memory and your words aren’t slurred or delayed so I think you’re good… Hang on, that’s probably hyung texting,” Jisung cut him off as he heard his phone buzzing against the floor behind him where he left it. He crawled over to go retrieve it.

  
  
  


**3RACHA 🔥**

**Channie Hyung**

( Did Felix kill him or what? )

( Jisung? )

  
  


( I’m alive )

( But what the fuck )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I tried to warn you! )

( You were so quick to throw your phone away )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Warn him about what? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( So… Slapjack is a bit of a different game down in Australia )

( It’s not what Minho and Changbin do )

( We don’t slap the card. We slap the other person )

  
  


**J1sung**

( dksk- the fuck? 💀 )

( So you played that game with Felix? )

( Actually I’m really surprised he survived that 😳 Felix could murder someone if he wasn’t so nice )

  
  


( How the hell was I supposed to know that 😑 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( By not being so quick to put your phone away and reading my messages before playing it 😓 )

( Are you okay though? )

( Do I need to come? I can tell Minho I need to leave )

  
  


( No, don’t do that. I’m fine )

( My head hurts but that’s it )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll take care of him 🤗 )

  
  


( I don’t need to be taken care of )

( Just focus on your work )

  
  
  


“So…” Jisung started as he opened his laptop that sat on the coffee table to turn it on. “Are you mad at Felix now?”

Changbin watched him with a side glance as he sat with his arm propped up on the arm of the couch so he could keep his ice pack in place. With his other hand he held the coffee that Jisung had bought for him, silently sucking on the straw. Eventually he took it away from his mouth to ask, “should I be?”

“I mean… it was your first time meeting each other and he knocked you out,” Jisung rolled his head to the side, trying to make out how it sounded. “But Felix really isn’t that kind of person.”

“What does that mean?”

“He’s the epitome of sunshine,” Jisung elaborated. “He’s honestly the nicest person I’ve ever met in my entire life. And he felt really bad about what happened. He wouldn’t stop apologizing to me.”

Imagining Felix’s face in his mind, Changbin tried putting Jisung’s depiction of him to it. Just in seeing him for the first moment he could feel a pleasant aura from him. When Changbin explained that he was waiting for Jisung, the boy offered to keep him company instead of awkwardly trying to send him somewhere or go someplace else himself.

When he realized Changbin wasn’t who he was expecting, he apologized for his English and quickly switched over to Korean for him. If it were anyone else, they might have had their fun with Changbin not being able to understand. But nothing about Felix had come off to him as being rude, so really how could he hate the boy for something as silly as a mishap in cultural difference?

“It’s alright,” Changbin decided, putting down his drink onto the coffee table. “I was the one that suggested the game. He was just playing as he knew how. I’m not mad or anything.”

“Thank god,” Jisung sighed out in relief with a hand on his chest. “I was really hoping you wouldn’t.”

“I’m not made out of stone, Jisung,” Changbin nudged him in the leg with his foot before waving a hand towards the laptop. “Come on, let’s knock this thing out already. It’s not even that long of a track to write for.”

  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

This one is for the books as well

**Changbin** @spearb

They’re all* for the books

  
  


**3RACHA🔥**

**Channie Hyung**

( Did you guys finish writing for that track I gave you? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( You know it 😎 )

  
  


( I think you’ll be impressed )

**Channie Hyung**

( I’m always impressed )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Hyung 😭💕 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I can’t wait to hear it )

( I gotta go, but I’ll meet up with the two of you soon when you get it recorded )

( Have fun ✌️ )

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this update! Please let me know any comments/concerns you may have and I’ll be happy to respond ❤︎


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back. I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I would post this week or not. There was a loss in my family this past week and another scare with someone else so I wasn’t really feeling the best. But I decided that it would do me some good if I went ahead and distracted myself with writing.
> 
> Sorry if it’s not as clean as my usual writing style. I’ll get back to it with the next update. But with that being said, please enjoy this here chapter (*´ω｀*)

* * *

  
The next morning came with Felix’s phone ringing softly by his ear. Almost every morning he would have to wake up early to make it to his bakery job. There was a bunch of work to do before they opened so he had to be there at least an hour prior. This morning, however, he woke up even earlier.

Even with sleeping for a solid 4 hours, Felix still got up at the prime hour of 3am to get himself up and accomplish his task at hand before work. Sluggishly he pulled himself away from his bed to get a quick shower in to try and wake himself up.

With it still being so early in the morning, Felix couldn’t see anything in front of him without the help of the light on his phone. He made sure Jisung’s door was closed all the way before even daring to turn on a small overhead light in the kitchen. Knowing Jisung would be sound asleep at this time, Felix carefully tiptoed his way around the kitchen.

Before coming home last night from his classes, Felix made a quick stop by their local grocery store to buy some ingredients he needed. Thinking ahead to try to save himself some time, Felix had grouped most of the things together so he wouldn’t have to shift through so much and risk making noise.

Being an adamant watcher of ASMR videos gave him insight on how to do things such as baking in a quieter manner. The only noise he really worried about was the sound of the oven’s buttons when he was turning it on. He just prayed that it wouldn’t be enough to wake up the boy down the hallway.

Doing the best he could to not make so much ruckus, Felix successfully made his brownie mix and poured it into a pan. As he was waiting for it to finish baking in the oven, he worked to clean up his mess and clear the dishes he used.

Without realizing, he had fallen asleep in front of the oven after he finished drying everything and putting it away. The beeping of the oven’s timer woke him up instantly. Scrambling now, Felix quickly pressed the off button on the oven to get it to silence.

Looking towards the hallway Felix waited to see if it had been enough to wake up Jisung. Thankfully, no one emerged from that area. Felix let out a sigh of relief before grabbing his oven mitts and removing the brownies from the oven. He set them down on the stove as he leaned into it and let the scent waft into his nose. It was safe to say he was pleased by how they came out.

He would have to wait until after work to add the finishing touches. It would all just melt if he did them now. Plus the brownies were far too delicate to be messed with at the moment. So for the meantime he covered the top of it with aluminum foil and pushed it to one of the back corners of the stove for it to be out of the way. With that being done, he could finally get himself ready for work.

  
  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Task one: done 😴✌️

  
  
  


“Good morning, Felix~”

It was Seungmin’s warm smile that greeted Felix when he walked through the bakery’s doors. The two of them worked together there in the mornings, setting up shop and getting everything into the oven so they could have fresh baked product.

Seungmin: one of Felix’s best friends and confidants. Being a morning person, he was always so lively when Felix came in to open with him. Just like Felix, he also radiated a warm energy. Outfitted in a soft blue sweater and white beret, it was safe to say that he was what dandy boy stood for.

“Ah, Seungmin,” Felix tiredly rubbed the side of his eye with the back of his index finger. “Good morning to you too.”

Seungmin stopped him lightly by the arm and inspected his face thoroughly before declaring, “you hardly slept last night, didn’t you?”

“Huh?” Felix quickly dug out his phone in his pocket to use the surface of it as a mirror. “How can you tell? I made sure to cover up my bags.”

“You just wiped some of the makeup off with your finger,” Seungmin pointed out before returning to what he was doing before Felix arrived.

Inspecting the back of his finger, Felix did in fact see a small smudge of concealer on it. He sighed out a small, “ _damn it,”_ before following Seungmin into the kitchen.

“I woke up super early this morning,” Felix yawned though he tried to keep it in. “I wanted to make brownies before coming here.”

“What? Why would you do something like that?”

It was an odd thing for Felix to want to do. He worked at a bakery and made things like that around the clock. So why would he get up before he had to and make brownies?

“Well… yesterday one of Jisung’s friends came over- Changbin. He was waiting on Jisung to get there and… long story short I accidentally knocked him unconscious.”

Seungmin nearly dropped the pan he was holding at the sound of that. Luckily Felix reached out and caught it before it could reach the floor. “You did what?”

“Apparently the rules of Slapjack vary in different countries,” Felix explained though that didn’t exactly clear things up with Seungmin. “But either way, I was up making the brownies so I could give them to him and apologize personally. I still have some work to do on them before I go to class tonight.”

“I understand why you did it, but you need sleep, Felix. Especially if you have class tonight. Do you want to go home early today?”

“No, no,” Felix quickly shook his head. “It’s okay. I can’t really afford to miss work, I need the money,” he assured with an uneven smile.

Seungmin gave him a slight frown at that. He knew well enough that Felix needed money, but at the same time he didn’t want him to strain himself over it. Instead of fighting it, he stayed quiet and continued on with their morning duties.

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

Ohohoo what do we have here 😛

**Changbin** @spearb

Hopefully it’s you arriving to my house on time

**Jisung** @j0ne

@spearb was that today?

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Someone please get Jisung a calendar 😓

**Jisung** @j0ne

I have one! This month is a cheetah 🐆

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I’m having second thoughts 😔

  
  
  


After a long shift at work, Felix finally found himself clocking out and gathering his things. Seungmin walked out with him since the two of them lived in the same direction. It wasn’t but a 15 minute walk to Felix’s apartment from the bakery.

“You promise you’ll get some rest today, okay?” Seungmin said it more as a statement than as a request. Though Felix preserved through his whole shift, Seungmin could still see the drowsiness in him.

“I only have two classes today so I’ll be able to go home and sleep earlier than last night.”

“So you won’t spend all of your time giving your brownies to Changbin?”

“It shouldn’t take that long,” Felix promised. “I’ll even try to do it on my way to class so I can relax when I get home.”

With slightly narrowed eyes, Seungmin hummed in thought before giving a short hug to Felix. “I trust you. See you later, Felix,” he waved before breaking off at the corner to continue to his own home.

Felix stood there waving back until he could no longer see him anymore. Once he was out of sight he rose his hand to his mouth to cover up another yawn. “Just a little more and then I can rest.”

  
  


Entering his shared apartment, Felix noticed Jisung’s shoes missing from the entryway. He must have been out working on 3RACHA songs at either Chan or Changbin’s place. It wasn’t a common occurrence for the boy to leave the apartment on his own. The boy was something of a hermit, after all.

Felix headed his room to put his things down but stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed something out of his peripherals. Body slowly turning, his eyes landed on the stove. No, it hadn’t been left on by a forgetful Jisung. That wasn’t what caught his eye. His brownies. The pan he had left them in this morning was missing from the stove.

All at once Felix threw his things down onto the table before running to the stove. Hands danced around on the surface as if the thing had somehow turned invisible. Of course it hadn’t. It wasn’t there. Maybe Jisung needed the stove and didn’t want to knock into them. Yes, of course. So where would he put them?

First Felix checked the microwave. That was a spot he kept things so they would keep their heat longer. Opening the door to it, he found them empty. Next he checked the oven. Empty again. Running out of options, Felix swung open the refrigerator door and even the freezer. Both: empty.

“Where did he put them?”

The sink was clear of any dishes and so was the dishwasher. Staring at the cabinet where he kept all of his pans, Felix began praying. Perhaps he hadn’t prayed hard enough because all of the pans he owned were accounted for, neatly in their stacks as Felix likes them.

Trying his best to not be rough with the cabinet door, Felix shut it back and went straight for the kitchen trash can. Right on top of everything else he found the aluminum foil he had used to cover the pan with. With a shaky hand he slowly picked it up in his hand and stared at it.

Suddenly he felt like crying. The lack of sleep was catching up to him and it was mixing with his frustration. He had given up his precious sleep to make those brownies. And now, even quicker than they had come, they were gone.

Dropping until he was seated on the floor, Felix crumbled the foil in his hand before bringing his head down onto his knees. He didn’t want to think what he was. He didn’t want to blame Jisung for eating the brownies he made so early in the morning for Changbin. But all of the evidence pointed to that accusation.

  
  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

I am a:

⚪️Man

⚪️Woman

🔘Poor college student

Looking for a:

⚪️Man

⚪️Woman

🔘New roommate

**Seungmin** @seungmong

What happened to Jisung?

**Felix** @fabulix

@seungmong nothing yet

  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

What

**Chan** @cb97

Should I be concerned?

**Jisung** @j0ne

@cb97 I don’t know???

  
  
  


Felix was too tired for this. He didn’t have enough time to buy more ingredients, go back home and make them, and then take them to Changbin all before his first class would start. So much time had been spent doing everything so early this morning. Not having enough time to do it now was the entire reason for him waking up far earlier than he had to for work.

He couldn’t believe this. Without doing anything rash, he simply pulled himself together, wrote out a note for Jisung to tape to the front of their apartment door, and took a quick nap before he would have to leave for class.

He was in no state of mind to be calling Jisung about the situation right now. If he did he wouldn’t be able to keep his voice steady. He was too upset for it. Even after his nap he still wasn’t in such a great mood. Silently he gathered his things for tonight’s classes and left the apartment. The note still attached to the front of the door let Felix know Jisung had yet to come. He just hoped it would be found before he would return home tonight.

  
  


_Dear Jisung,_

_I’m sorry, those brownies were not for you. I made those to give to Changbin as a sign of my apology for what I did. Please get me the things listed on the back of this note while I’m in class. Do not come inside without them._

_❤︎Felix_

  
  
  


**3RACHA🔥**

**J1sung**

( Hyungs~ )

( Who wants to take me in? 🥰 )

  
  
  


( What happened? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Is this about what Felix posted? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( 👉👈 mayhaps )

( Felix kicked me out )

  
  


( What?? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Are we talking about the same Felix? )

( Felix wouldn’t just kick you out )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Okay he didn’t kick me out *permanently* )

( But I’m afraid to go back 😰 )

  
  


( I thought you said he was the “epitome of sunshine”? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( He is! But I accidentally did something to make him mad 😥 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Felix can get mad? What did you do?? )

  
  


( Did you play a game with him? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( So… I thought… the brownies he made this morning were for me… )

( I ate the entire pan 😞 )

  
  


( The whole fucking pan? )

( Jisung how the hell did you do that? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I was hungry okay! )

( All I ate yesterday was coffee )

( And those brownies were so good 🤤 I didn’t even mean to eat them all )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( First of all, iced americanos aren’t food )

( Secondly, there’s probably more factors as to why Felix is *mad )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I think he was up extremely early making them… they were there before I woke up and he had to be at work by 6am )

( Either way I can’t go back until I buy all the stuff on the list he gave me 😓 )

( Don’t make me go to the store alone 😢 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I’d go with you but I’m not even home right now )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Changbin hyung? )

  
  


( The entire pan, Jisung?? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( ☠️ )

( Please come with me 🙇♂️ )

  
  


( I really shouldn’t just for your punishment )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Hyung please 😭 )

( I don’t like going places by myself )

  
  


( We were just together )

  
  


**J1sung**

( But )

( I love your company 🥺 )

( And I know you like mine too 🤩 )

( Fine. )

  
  
  


“Now I see why you didn’t want any food when you came over earlier,” Changbin recalled as he walked into the grocery store with Jisung.

“Please stop reminding me,” Jisung sighed with his head hung low. It was bad enough as it was for Felix to be mad at him. Changbin reminding him of his deed was not helping the downcasted emotions pass.

“So what were they for then if he got up so early to make them and they weren’t for you?”

Jisung opened his mouth to answer but kept it like that as he figured it was probably a secret that Felix had made them for Changbin. Felix really might hurt him if he let slip some potential secret. “U-Uhm… I’m not sure,” he lied, rubbing the back of his head. “Maybe it was for a class?”

“A class?” Changbin repeated with a bit of energy and a small glare. “I hope he doesn’t get a bad grade because of you.”

“Or, or, maybe it was for a friend?”

“Still, Jisung. That’s not much better,” Changbin noted as he followed the younger down the baking aisle. “That’s rough if he got up super early to make them for something or someone only for them to be gone when he got back to them.”

When all he got was silence for a response, Changbin looked to his friend to find him sadly fumbling around with the list in his hands. Honestly he couldn’t tell if Jisung was going to cry or not so he did the only logical thing he could think of and that was to pull him into a small hug.

“Hey, don’t be sad. It will be okay. You said yourself that Felix is a nice guy so just bring him back what he needs and I’m sure everything will be back to normal.”

All Jisung could really do was stand there with his arms squished down at his sides while resting his chin on Changbin’s shoulder. He stayed like that for a second before he asked in a small voice, “you think so?”

Did Changbin think so? It’s definitely what he hoped for, but still he had a feeling that someone like Felix- as far as Jisung had said himself- couldn’t hold a grudge for very long over something like this.

“Yeah, I do.”

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

My neighbors think I’ve forgotten the code to my own apartment with how long I’ve been standing here

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Stop being a coward and go 🙄

**Jisung** @j0ne

@hwangjin rude??

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

Someone needs to push you

  
  
  


Putting a beat of a pause between each number, Jisung entered the passcode to his apartment. With a small beep he was granted access. Through the small crack of the door Jisung peeked through to check for any signs of his friend. The entryway was clear of any shoes so he let himself walk through.

Gently he set the bag onto the kitchen table and unloaded its contents into one pile. Anxiously he looked at the clock on the stove. There was still at least an hour until Felix would come back home from his classes. Jisung wondered if that would be enough time for him to play with.

Taking a chance with the time he had, Jisung moved around the kitchen to find everything he needed. He wanted to have something waiting for Felix when he arrived. It was the only thing he could think of that would even begin to show the boy how sorry he was.

Jisung was not the best choice to be in the kitchen by a long shot. Felix usually took up most of the cooking duties while Jisung settled for cleaning. But he had watched Felix cook time and time again. It wasn’t that he was without an entire clue. There was just hardly any hands-on experience for him.

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

Look, it’s a smiley face 😊

[ image attached ]

**Chan** @cb97

Oh nice 😍

  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

WAIT WHAT HAPPENED TO THE PRETTY SMILEY FACE

[ image attached ]

**Minho** @meowho

🤣☠️ oh that’s so horrifying but great at the same time

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

I didn’t realize it was Halloween already

**Chan** @cb97

Maybe you should add the blueberries after you make them? Or just… don’t do that again 😅

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

One day of Jisung not being chaotic is all I ask for

**Jisung** @j0ne

I’m trying my best 🥲

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

…he is trying his best 😔

**Minho** @meowho

I think it looks great 😸

  
  
  


**3RACHA🔥**

**J1sung**

( tell me the truth )

[ image attached ]

  
  


( Apart from the scary ass smiley face? )

( I think it looks good )

( But is it edible? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Considering your qualifications in the kitchen, I think it’s great )

  
  


**J1sung**

( What’s up with these underhanded compliments 🥲 )

  
  


( Why are you making blueberry pancakes anyways? It’s dinner time )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Felix loves pancakes 🙁 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Put some whipped cream on there and I think you’ll be good to go )

  
  


**J1sung**

( He’s coming in now- wish me luck )

  
  


( Don’t die 👍 )

  
  
  


As Felix made his way into the apartment, Jisung took the liberty of hiding behind a wall with only his eyes peeking around the corner. Silently he watched Felix wander towards the table and study the plate of pancakes sitting there. His brows furrowed slightly together and Jisung just knew he was questioning the smiley face pancake. Maybe he should have eaten that one himself and made a new one.

_“What is this?”_ Felix asked without even picking his head up to look in Jisung’s direction. He already knew where he was hiding.

Slowly Jisung slinked out from his hiding spot and cautiously approached Felix. His hands were balled up at his chest, trying to will himself the courage to go all the way to him.

“I know I’m not the best cook, but I really tried my best and made you some pancakes,” Jisung explained in a timid voice as he stopped on the other side of the table. It was just enough of a defensive layer for him. If Felix wanted to go after him, he would at least have a chance to react before he could reach him.

Stretching out his hand, he lightly pushed the bottle of syrup closer to Felix, prompting him to sit down and try them. To his delight, Felix did just that in sitting in front of the plate and picking up the syrup, drizzling it over top the pancakes. From the same security spot Jisung waited anxiously for him to try it.

“It’s not bad,” Felix finally said after what felt like an eternity.

Jisung let out a long sigh that he’s been holding onto in fear of Felix not liking it. Now he felt like he could get somewhere. He moved to get Felix a glass of milk and sat down beside him. He put his hands down on Felix’s thigh as he leaned in closer to him.

“Felix. I’m _reaaaally_ sorry I ate your brownies. I didn’t know you made those for Changbin hyung. I just thought maybe you were just feeling really nice and wanted me to wake up to something tasty,” Jisung dropped his head in shame. He still felt like he wasn’t going to be forgiven.

“I really hate myself right now though, you know? I’m sure you do even more though. You must have woken up so early to do it all and I put all of your hard work to waste. But- if it makes you feel any better; though I doubt it will, they were super good and that’s why I ate the entire pan.”

Without making room to respond, Felix let Jisung talk through him cleaning his plate. He finished it up by drinking the glass of milk and setting it down with a small clank.

“I _was_ mad,” Felix affirmed as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I woke up at 3am today and did my best to not wake you up in the process of doing everything. Of course after coming back home so tired only to find my brownies missing-“

Felix cut himself off to turn in his chair and take a hold of Jisung’s hands. Looking him in the eyes he said, “Jisung. I never want there to be any bad blood between us, okay? You’re my best friend and I love you so much. I don’t hate you. I may get irritated with you sometimes, but I’ll never hate you.”

With a pouted lip, Jisung couldn’t help but to tear up a little and crush Felix in a hug. He was practically sitting on his lap at this point as he rocked Felix side to side.

“I love you too, Lix. I promise to be more careful about things now. Are we good?”

“Yeah,” Felix nodded with his arms wrapped around Jisung’s frame. “We’re good.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the blueberry pancake smiley face mishap is a picture I saw online of someone making a smiley face with blueberries in a pancake but it looking evil once they actually cooked it.
> 
> See you next week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back. One day I’ll come bearing good news. But for right now today is somber for I lost another family member to covid. I’m busying my mind with writing and my school work. I’ll be alright. Next week will be better.
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter featuring more brownie boy Felix

* * *

  
In the process of turning everything back to normal, Felix and Jisung slept against each other on the couch as they watched a movie for the rest of the night. Felix, being as tired as he was from getting up so early that morning, fell asleep before he could even make it halfway through. When Jisung felt himself yawning more than he could handle, he turned the tv off before repositioning himself against Felix and fixing the blanket back over the two of them. This was how they slept for the entire night.

As early morning came, Felix’s biological alarm clock woke him up at the time that he would usually be walking into the door of his work. Since today was one of his only off days, he didn’t have to worry about being late. Finally he was able to get some rest.

Jisung had balled himself up into a smaller form as he burrowed himself into Felix’s body. This is usually how he slept; closed in on himself as if he were trying to retain his body heat. But it wasn’t cold in the apartment. They even had the blanket over them. It was just his most comfortable way of sleeping.

On the other hand Felix was more stretched out around him with an arm resting overtop of him. He liked being like this. Though the two of them slept in their separate rooms, they still enjoyed the times of sleeping next to one another. They were both very physical people so it helped when they could have this time together. Especially with the way the two of their schedules collided.

Moving carefully, Felix pushed the blanket off of him and rolled off of the couch. He took the blanket from Jisung as well and folded it up before laying it on one of the back cushions. Jisung was more on the heavier side of sleeping when it came to contact so Felix wasn’t that concerned with waking him by lifting him into his arms. The only movement he saw in response was Jisung nuzzling into him. Smiling softly at that, Felix carried him towards his room.

While still balancing Jisung in his arms, Felix used his foot to move the blanket down on the bed before gently setting the sleeping boy down on it. Covering him back up with the blanket, Felix tucked it around him and pat his hair before leaving with the door closed.

Moving towards the kitchen now, Felix began pulling things from the fridge and setting them down on the counter. His phone played music at a low volume for him to listen to as he worked on breakfast. It was a lot of work he put into all of his cooking, but he really didn’t mind it all too much. Cooking and baking were his favorite things to do as well as dancing. It was even a better time for him when he could do both at once.

For the next hour he worked quietly in the kitchen. It was safe to say that he was enjoying himself as he did his thing with the stove and counter space. Instead of continuing to sleep as Seungmin might recommend he do if he were actually here, Felix busied himself. Once again he had put the thought of others before himself.

In the midst of his soft singing and slight rhythmic movements as he cleaned his dishes, Jisung trudged into the room, rubbing his eyes with both hands. He leaned against the counter with his arms stretched out along it.

“No, please continue,” Jisung yawned out, waving a hand in Felix’s direction when he noticed him. “I think it’s nice when you’re like this.”

The music had stopped playing at Felix’s touch. The singing and dancing had also halted with it. Jisung’s sudden presence in the kitchen caught Felix off guard and now he was blushing ever so slightly because of it.

“Oh, sorry. Did I wake you by chance?” Felix asked to which Jisung simply shook his head. “Actually, I was just about to go in there and get you.”

Felix reached out for Jisung’s arm and pulled him to the kitchen table for him to sit. There were two plates of omelettes and a small tray of sliced fruit between them. Also to the side of both plates was a glass of apple juice.

Jisung could feel the drool coming out of his mouth already just by looking at it. Everything Felix cooked for him always looked like it belong in a high end restaurant. He never understood why his friend didn’t have all of the confidence in the world when it came to making food.

“What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion,” Felix answered as he sat in his own seat. “I just wanted to do something nice. To show that there really is no bad blood between us.”

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

I just want to say that I love Felix

**Changbin** @spearb

This is a very drastic change in attitude from yesterday

**Chan** @cb97

Everything good?

**Jisung** @j0ne

@cb97 perfect 🥰

  
  
  


After breakfast was over Felix stayed in the kitchen and had his hand at round two with his brownies for Changbin. Jisung had asked him to take a break first but Felix believed he was already too late as it was with them. Yesterday should have been when he had given them to him. More time just kept passing him by that he still hadn’t been able to personally apologize to Changbin for what he did and the guilt was eating him alive. He couldn’t wait any longer to give them to him. If it were between him resting after so much work already put in or him being able to see Changbin and apologizing; and it was, he would take the latter.

So he worked endlessly in remaking everything from scratch. Jisung stuck around to watch him work, still amazed by it all. How Felix could turn such simple things into masterpieces. It was for watching and wanting to lick the brownie batter off the bowl that he refused to leave the table. But also cleaning up after Felix was in his list of chores. Except Jisung was too focused on the brownie batter that he forgot all about the rest of his responsibility.

Even while the brownies were cooling down, Felix didn’t bother to rest. That was only giving him time to whip up the topping to put onto the brownies. That too was created by him.

“I’m so envious of you, Lix,” Jisung said from in front of the sink. Finally he was back on track with getting everything cleaned up before Felix could find the breath to scold him. But that was purely because he had licked both the brownie bowl and spoon clean. There was nothing else for him to procrastinate with.

“Why is that?”

Felix didn’t look up from where he was transferring the cream-like icing from a bowl into a bag. He was nearly done with everything. All that was left after this was to decorate the top of the brownies.

“You’re just so diligent and hardworking. And no matter what you put your mind to in the kitchen, you always make it turn out so well. My ass could never…”

Felix smiled softly at the compliment. It always made him feel warm inside when Jisung praised his cooking and baking skills. With the now empty bowl in his hands, he moved over behind Jisung and gave him a back hug at the same time he stuck the bowl in the sink to be washed.

“Thanks, Sungie. I’m glad I can count on you to be my fan.”

“Changbin hyung is about to be your fan too once he tries those. And this time you put caramel in them? I feel robbed.”

Felix playfully jabbed him in the side before moving to put his finishing touches on his creation. “I wasn’t done with it and they weren’t for you,” he reminded. “By the way, is he even going to be home when I go?”

“I’ll text him when I’m finished with these. Is that the last of them?”

“That’s it. You’re free after that.”

“Thank god,” Jisung exasperated as he picked up the pace with cleaning everything off. The quicker he could get it done the quicker he could relax again. As if that wasn’t what he always did.

  
  
  


( Hyung 😁 )

( Where will you be within the next hour? )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( I feel like I don’t want to answer this )

  
  


( I promise I’m not trying to go to you )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( Then why ask?? )

  
  


( Home? Minho’s? Someplace that sells cheesecake? Can you buy me some? )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( Why would I buy you cheesecake? You need to eat some real food )

  
  


( Cheesecake IS real food )

( It’s not playdoh 🙄 )

( So will you be home? )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( You promise to not come bother me if I am? )

  
  


( Have I ever lied to you? )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( Yes. Many times. )

( Just last week you told me you were sick and to bring you food )

  
  


( I was sick! )

( Sick of leaving my apartment 😚 )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( I’m sick of you 🤒 )

  
  


( 🤕 )

  
  
  


“That’s just hurtful,” Jisung muttered while feigning offense. He closed out of the messages to find Changbin’s address in his contacts and share it to Felix. Once that was done, he rolled to his stomach on the couch and laid his phone down on the coffee table. “He’ll be there. I sent you his address.”

At the sound of the message being delivered to him, Felix pulled his phone out and looked up the address. It wasn’t on the way to his class so if he wanted to make it there on time, he would have to head out before the hour was up. He also didn’t know how long it would even take him to deliver the brownies. All he had to do was drop them off, right? He couldn’t let himself linger.

Heading straight to his room, Felix grabbed his bag and slung it across him. He made sure everything he needed was accounted for as he made his way back to the kitchen.

“Are you going to be like that all day?” Felix asked as he watched his friend get himself comfortable on the couch with a throw pillow under his head.

“Not all day,” Jisung waved a hand to him. “Just until Hyunjin comes over.”

Playfully Felix rolled his eyes at that. What he was hearing was, Jisung was going to lounge around all day instead of be productive. More than likely the two of them would stay glued to the couch and watch shows together. Felix had hoped the older would get Jisung up and moving once in a while, but that was an on-going battle for the both of them.

“There’s food in the fridge if you get hungry later tonight. I’m hoping my last class will get out early so I don’t have to stay so long,” Felix informed as he took the pan of brownies in his hand and headed towards the entrance. “See you later.”

“Have fun,” Jisung waved in farewell as Felix left their apartment.

  
  


With a short bus ride, Felix found himself approaching his first destination. It was a part of town that he couldn’t recall ever visiting. It wasn’t very far from where he lived, but he just never had a reason to come this way. The layout of apartments and small houses changed to that of bigger and more spread out homes. Suddenly he started to feel out of place.

  
  
  


**Lix 🐣**

( Uh… Jisung? )

( This can’t be the right address )

  
  


( No, it has to be )

( I just copied and pasted it from my contacts )

  
  


**Lix 🐣**

( This better not be another one of your pranks 😶 )

  
  


( ? There’s no prank )

( I would never intentionally make you late to class )

  
  
  


Felix didn’t know what to believe. The address Jisung had sent led him to a large flat on the outskirts of the city. Even from the outside Felix knew that it cost a good bit of money. This couldn’t _possibly_ be where Changbin lived, right? He knew Jisung had rich friends, but even Hyunjin lived in a much more compact home than this.

After a moment to try and mull it over, Felix rose a shaky finger and pressed it against the doorbell. As each second passed him by, Felix only grew more and more anxious. What if some unsuspecting person opened the door? What was he supposed to say? His fingers rested against his neck, feeling his pulse skip beats.

  
  


“I knew he was trying to come here,” Changbin muttered from his studio chair. He had been in the middle of putting the finishing touches on one of the new songs when he heard the bell ring throughout his house. Without bothering to get up, he slid his phone over to look at who was at his door. There was a video surveillance system set up on it so he would have to go all the way to the door. It paid to be lazy.

When he opened the video, he blinked in confusion. It definitely wasn’t the squirrel-like boy he had been expecting. Honestly, it took him a minute to even recognize just who it was at his front door. Regardless he dropped what he was doing to go to the door and open it.

“Felix?”

Felix backed up a step at the sight of the door opening to see Changbin with his all black attire standing behind it. The fact that it was indeed his house put him slightly at ease, but something else kept his anxiety intact.

_“Oh hi- hello_ ,” Felix stammered out before he could get a grip on himself. He looked down at the pan of brownies in his hand before practically shoving it at Changbin. _“For you.”_

At least Changbin could understand the small part of English from him, but he didn’t have a clue about what was in Felix’s hands. Still he accepted it and kept his gaze on the foil.

“What… is it?”

There were a million questions going through his mind right now, but that just happened to be the one that left him.

With the pan now out of his hands, Felix could freely clasp his hands together to try and contain his nerves. He still couldn’t believe that this was actually where he lived. But here Changbin was standing in front of him just as he had remembered him.

Maybe it was just his parents’ house? But he never heard anything about them from Jisung or even Chan. Could Changbin really have this entire house all to himself?

“Brownies,” he said more carefully this time after taking a deep breath. “I wanted to say I was sorry for what I did the other day. I didn’t get a chance to do so before.”

“Brownies?” Changbin repeated in realization. Is that why Felix got so mad at Jisung? The brownies that he made were for him?

“I made them earlier today so they’re really fresh. I didn’t know what kind you liked best so I just went with what’s more popular,” Felix explained. “I just really hope there’s no hard feelings or anything,” he said softly, pushing his index fingertips together.

“Oh, no, don’t worry about it. Really.” Changbin waved a hand in front of him for reassurance. “It’s okay. I’m not mad at you, I told Jisung that.”

“Still, it didn’t feel right for me to not personally apologize to you. I had to leave so early and all...”

Now that he thought about it, Felix really hadn’t personally apologized to him. Not like it actually mattered to Changbin. It wasn’t like he held a grudge or anything because he never did hear ‘I’m sorry’ come straight from Felix. It was a surprise to him that the boy would show up to his house bearing apology brownies. Jisung must have been the one to give him the address. Clearly this ordeal meant far more to Felix than it ever did to Changbin.

Wondering what to say next, Changbin nodded his head slowly. “It’s fine, but thank you for this. So uh… did you want to come in?”

“N-no! No, you’re probably super busy with 3RACHA stuff and whatnot and I wouldn’t want to be a burden. I really should be heading out now, I have classes soon,” he said with a thumb thrown behind him. “Thank you for the offer though and please enjoy the brownies!” He waved before hurrying back the way he came.

“He’s a quirky dude,” Changbin thought aloud as he watched him disappear down the sidewalk with a tilted head. Once he was out of his sight, he closed the door back and looked back down at the pan in his hands. Not even making it yet to the kitchen he was already peeling the foil off and taking one of the already-cut brownies from the pan and trying it.

Just as Felix had said, they were super fresh. It had practically melted into his mouth at the first bite with a warm caramel and creamy taste accompanying it. Freezing in place, he stared down at the remainder in his hand in complete awe.

“Oh, shit. Okay.”

  
  
  


**Lix 🐣**

( Jisung!! )

( You didn’t tell me your friend was stinking rich! )

  
  
  


—

**3RACHA🔥**

  
  


( Jisung, you bitch )

  
  
  


—

  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

Damn, I’m popular tonight 😎 These notifs are blowing up

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

What? Is it notifs for a new Nat Geo video being posted?

**Jisung** @j0ne

@hwangjin ...those are also included, yes

  
  


-

  
  


**3RACHA🔥**

**Channie Hyung**

( Okay, okay )

( Why is Jisung being a bitch? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Hyung??? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I was asking. Not agreeing )

  
  


( Those brownies Jisung ate? )

( They were for me )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( What- )

( Felix didn’t make me any brownies 😢 )

  
  


( He also didn’t slap you into next week, either )

  
  


**J1sung**

( In my defense, as I said before, I DIDNT KNOW )

( But they’re good, huh? )

  
  


( I’m going to be straight here )

  
  


**J1sung**

( You’re straight? )

( Now that can’t be right 🤔 )

  
  


( If you don’t shut up- )

( I meant I’m going to be straight about these brownies )

( They fucking slap )

( Like what the fuck )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Bro. Please share. I can’t remember the last time Felix made brownies for me 😭 )

( What kind are they? )

  
  


( The best kind I’ve ever tasted. They’ve got caramel in the middle of them or something and I don’t know what’s on top of it but 😩👌 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I don’t have work tonight sooo 🏃 )

  
  


( Back off )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Too late 😋 I’m already on the way )

  
  


**J1sung**

( You two have fun. I’ve got videos to watch ✌️ )

  
  
  


“I can’t believe you _actually_ showed up here, hyung.”

Changbin was standing at his counter with arms crossed, staring at Chan. The man had actually shown up to his door and; since he knew the code to get in, unlocked the door himself and waltzed right on in. Now he was seated on a barstool, enjoying the last portion of brownie that Changbin hadn’t gotten around to eating yet. If only he had been a little quicker.

“I can’t let you eat all of these,” Chan said simply. “You’ll get fat if you do.”

“ _Jisung_ ate the whole pan.”

“Don’t be like Jisung. Besides, you already ate two-thirds of this thing.”

Changbin looked away from him in embarrassment. Now he understood exactly why Jisung had eaten the entire thing. It was like every bite was better than the last. It was addicting and he wanted more of them. He wondered what it would take to get more. Apparently Chan could read minds now because he knew exactly what to say.

“You know he works at a bakery. If you like these so much, you can always get some more like it. It’s the small one closest to where they live.”

“W-what?” Changbin put his hands down on his counter as he gave him a look. “If you knew that then why did you come here and eat these? You could have just gotten your own.”

Chan just gave him an innocent smile before sticking the last piece of brownie in his mouth and getting up. “He didn’t work today. Now come on, let’s see what you and Jisung have accomplished without me.”

“You wouldn’t have gone there instead even if he did work today,” Changbin muttered under his breath as he followed Chan into his studio room.

  
  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Everyone is a thief 😤

**Minho** @meowho

Okay, thief.

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho 😑

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day I’ll get this show on the road. As always, leave me any comments/concerns you have and I’ll be more than happy to respond (*´ω`*)
> 
> Next chapter will begin the drama


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it just me or does it feel like I skipped a week? I had to double check to make sure that didn’t happen (^_^;) So much has been going on but already I’ve written up to chapter 15 of this thing
> 
> This week I give you drunk Hyunjin. Next week, who knows? I can’t keep up with the timeline anymore

* * *

**  
3RACHA🔥**

**Channie Hyung**

( You’re both coming tonight, right? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I’m in 😎 )

  
  


( Oooh, the hermit finally comes out of his den )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Eh. It’s a different experience there )

  
  


( You mean you start flirting with everyone 😒 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( At least try to behave this time )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Yeah, Changbin hyung. Behave. )

  
  


( I don’t remember being the one we had to carry out )

  
  


**J1sung**

( That happened ONE (1) time )

( How was I supposed to know they were heavy handed on the liquor for my drink?? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( You told the bartender that’s how you wanted it- )

( Changbin, you’re on Jisung duty )

  
  


( Oh wow. You hate me that much huh? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Noooo I love you both very much 😚 )

( I’ll see you there~ )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I don’t need a babysitter 😣 )

  
  
  


_“Oi, Felix,”_ Jisung called as he barged into Felix’s room. The one in question was merely laying on his back with his phone held up above him.

“I need you to make me pretty,” Jisung requested as he sat on the side of the bed, causing it to dip slightly under his weight.

“You’re already pretty, Sungie.” He hadn’t even looked his way as he said it. It was merely a known fact to him.

Jisung let out a small squeak and clutched onto his chest. Falling over, he lightly smacked Felix’s leg. He could always count on him to say things to make his heart melt.

“Come on, Lix. I mean it,” Jisung crawled over to lay beside Felix and poke his cheek. “I’m going _out_ . I need to look _pretty_.”

Finally Felix set down his phone and turned to look at Jisung. “I’m not going to get a call that you’re blackout drunk again, am I?”

“God you’re just as bad as Changbin hyung,” Jisung huffed. “I’m not going to get that far again. You can trust me.”

Felix watched him for a moment before humming in thought and getting up. “Fine, I’ll trust you.” He messed around in one of his drawers until he found a small bag. “Sit up, I’ll make you gorgeous. You better come back as someone’s boyfriend.”

Very energetically, Jisung sprung up into a sitting position and closed his eyes. He loved it when Felix did his makeup. His touches were always so delicate and precise. Jisung still tried to find something that the boy wasn’t good at. By the time Felix was done, Jisung felt a complete boost in ego.

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

Thank you, Felix 😁

[ image attached ]

**Hyunjin** @hwangjin

I can smell the ego from here

**Changbin** @spearb

@hwangjin it’s both of you. You both reek of it

  
  
  


It was like Felix had casted some magic spell over him. The usually reserved Jisung was now oozing with a sense of confidence. He blew a kiss to Felix, wished him a fun time at school, and headed out to the world that he most liked to avoid going out into.

All on his own he made it down to the more frequented part of the city. It was the district filled with restaurants, clubs, and karaokes that beckoned the younger generation to come spend their money and hang out. This was the main area that Jisung would usually avoid, though tonight was different.

Every so often he and Changbin would head to Minho’s club to hang out and drink. The most important reason they would go was because Chan DJs there on the regular. After the turnout of Chan’s trial period there, Minho practically begged him to continue to play there.

Continuing working there came with its perks, too. 3RACHA and yes, even Hyunjin, were able to get VIP entry into the club. And sometimes, just when Minho would be feeling a little generous, he would waive the charge for a drink or two. Really it just depended on what kind of mood he was in at the time. All in all, it was best to stay on his good side.

“Theeere he is,” Minho mused from behind the bar counter as Jisung and Hyunjin approached the area. Lucky for them there were some empty seats currently at the counter so they wouldn’t have to squeeze through. “Oh, your face looks really good today, Jisung. What did you do to it?”

Jisung plopped down on one of the barstools and spun around once in it before replying with, “Felix did it for me~ He’s amazing, isn't he?”

“Felix did?” Minho questioned as he reached out to grab Jisung’s chin and turn his face all around. “Hm. You should make him do it more often. Maybe someone will buy you a drink or two.”

“Or~ _you_ could slip me one,” Jisung winked with a half smirk to which Minho merely rolled his eyes. All Jisung heard was, he didn’t say no.

“Hey,” Hyunjin tapped his hand on the counter at Minho. He was looking a little further down the bar to a boy in a black button up shirt with half of his hair slicked back. “Did you hire someone else?”

Minho followed his gaze to the one in question before nodding once. “I did. He’s only been here for less than a month. He doesn’t like anyone so don’t go trying to touch him,” he added with a stern look to the both of them. “I’ll know if you do and I’ll kick both of your asses.”

“Hey!” Hyunjin complained. “I was just asking… I wasn’t trying to do anything,” he murmured with crossed arms. “Besides, who wouldn’t like this handsome face of mine?”

“It’s your mouth that gets you in trouble, Hyunjin. Keep it busy,” Minho advised.

Hyunjin raised a brow at him.

“Absolutely not.” Minho scrunched his nose up slightly before messing around with the space behind the bar. He set down two shot glasses for them and a nearly empty bottle of tequila beside it. Between the two of them it was good for at least 3 shots each. “Don’t touch my bartender,” Minho pointed at them in warning once more before moving out from behind the bar and somewhere out into the crowd.

“You should say things like that more often,” Jisung laughed as he poured them both a shot. Replacing the bottle in his hand with the shot glass, he held it up between him and Hyunjin.

“To free shots?”

“To free shots,” Jisung agreed before clanking them together and throwing them back.

Both of them slammed their now empty shot glasses back onto the counter and began coughing slightly. Minho had forsaken giving them a lime or any chaser. It was their fault for realizing too late. Minho most likely hadn’t forgotten about it, but merely chose not to give them one just because he knew neither of them would notice. He could be a demon like that sometimes.

Coughing once more, Hyunjin raised his hand up and tried to call the new bartender over to them. “Excuse me! Kind sir we are in need of assistance!”

“‘Kind sir’?” Jisung repeated with his gaze set on Hyunjin who merely nudged him in the side.

Despite the strange remark, the boy still heard them and walked over to them with an expectant look.

“Minho hyung forgot the lime,” Jisung explained, trying to forget about the strong taste in his mouth. “Could we have some? Maybe a small chaser too?”

“We don’t need a chaser-“ Hyunjin butt in with a hand on Jisung’s leg. He was looking straight at the bartender with his charming smile. “Just the lime will do.”

Though he received a raised eyebrow in response, the bartender still did as Hyunjin asked and gave them a few slices of lime each. “Is that all?”

Jisung nodded and already started pouring them another shot when Hyunjin continued talking.

“Just one more thing,” Hyunjin added before he could walk away. “What’s your name? You know, so I could be more polite if I need anything else.”

Jisung kicked Hyunjin in the ankle for being so forward. Especially when Minho had just got done warning them not to get too close to his worker? He swore Hyunjin had some sort of death wish. It was either that or he had already pregamed before coming here.

The dark haired boy seemed to be contemplating something in his mind before finally deciding on, “Jeongin. But that’s all you’re getting.”

He was already walking away before Hyunjin could go any further. Jisung smacked him in the arm the moment he was back to the other end of the bar.

“Are you crazy? Are you trying to die?! You better hope Minho hyung doesn't get you just for that number.”

Jisung couldn’t believe the nerve of this guy. After hearing something so clear, he still went and attempted to walk on thin ice. Jisung just hoped he wouldn’t fall through.

“ _Relax_ , Ji. I didn’t even ask for his number,” Hyunjin chuckled as he picked up his second shot. “What is hyung going to get mad at?”

“I’m no match for him so I can’t bail you out if you do anything.”

Busy with his lime in his mouth, Hyunjin merely shrugged. He motioned for Jisung to pour the last one so they could go to the dance floor. Giving up, Jisung poured the amber liquid into Hyunjin’s shot glass, filling it all the way to the brim. It was going to be his funeral, not Jisung’s.

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

Yeah, I’M the one that needs the babysitter alright 🙄

**Felix** @fabulix

Are you?

**Jisung** @j0ne

@fabulix It’s Hyunjin, not me.

  
  
  


Somewhere out in the midst of all of the bodies dancing on the main floor, Minho found Changbin standing off by the DJ booth. Chan had a second to breathe so he was spending that time sharing a drink with Changbin. The two of them were laughing about something Minho couldn’t quite hear.

“I didn’t even see you come in, Changbin,” Minho noted as he slung an arm around his shoulders.

“There’s a bunch of people in here,” Chan pointed out. “It’s hard to notice all of them.”

“This is true…”

“What about you?” Changbin asked in a side glance. “I’ve been here for awhile but I didn’t notice you stalking around as per usual.”

“I was manning the bar,” Minho explained. “I had to make sure Jisung nor Hyunjin would mess with my bartender.”

Chan craned his neck to see the one working the bar more clearly. In the process of it he found both Hyunjin and Jisung missing from it. At least they couldn’t bother the one in question that way.

“The one that has part of his hair slicked back?” Chan asked before looking towards Minho. “He looks young.”

“He’s legal,” Minho assured with his hands in front of him. “I thought so too so I double checked. But his name is Jeongin. I like him a lot because he’s good looking, good at his job, and doesn’t flirt with anyone. I think he just doesn’t like anyone.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Changbin thought maybe it would be better if a bartender did flirt a little bit with the patreons. It would sway them to spend more money, right?

“That means I don’t have to worry about him sliding drinks to anyone,” Minho smiled before giving a small frown. “I had to take one guy out before for doing that.”

“He seems nice, though. At least when I went over there he was,” Chan shrugged before putting a hand on Minho’s shoulder. “Hey, could you get me another one?” He requested, holding up his almost empty bottle. “I’m about to start again.”

“Sure, I’ll be right back.” Minho shone him a bright smile before snaking off back to the bar.

“At least Hyunjin and Jisung can babysit each other tonight,” Changbin halfly joked as he caught sight of the two of them dancing in the ocean of people. He had to admit, it was nice to see Jisung shed his shell for a while. But that also was enjoyed in small doses. At times he could become what Changbin decided to call, ‘chaotic.’

“I’ll make sure they figure out how to get home,” Chan offered as he watched Minho come back over to him. He sure was quick. “Thank you, Minho~ Now if you’ll excuse me.”

Before Changbin could walk away, Minho grabbed him lightly by the arm. “Hey, I gotta talk to you for a second. Follow me over here.”

  
  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Why do I feel like I should be concerned

**Jisung** @j0ne

I ddnf do abything

**Changbin** @spearb

@j0ne are you seriously drunk already??

**Jisung** @j0ne

No. Screeb too dDk

**Changbin** @spearb

@j0ne then turn the brightness up??

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

He stresses me out too much 😑

  
  
  


Making a quick stop back to the bar to pick up the drink he asked Jeongin to make for him, Minho led Changbin over to a small table where it was much easier to hear each other over the loud music booming on the speakers. He sat himself down in the spot where he could still see much of what was going on. Knowing what was going on in his club was kind of important to him. Bringing his drink to his mouth to take a few sips, Minho scanned the area once before he decided everything was fine. Of course he had extensive security, but it never hurt to look for himself.

“So Channie told me something interesting.”

There was a playful grin on his face as he spoke. Changbin deemed the older to be too comfortable like this. The way he leaned back and absentmindedly played with the straw in his drink, Changbin knew Minho was mentioning something about himself.

“Do I want to know?”

“You already know,” Minho scoffed. “You were there.”

“Something tells me this is not your first drink,” Changbin deadpanned. He couldn’t stand it when Minho teased him like this. He wasn’t much for beating around the bush and dropping useless hints.

“Awe, come on. I’m in a great mood. Humor me a little, hm?” Minho smiled softly and reached a hand out to pat one of Changbin’s. “Now who smacked our little Bin?”

Changbin flinched slightly, not having expected that. “ _That’s_ what hyung told you?” He scoffed and looked away, taking his hands back to himself as he crossed his arms. “Why does that interest you?”

“I just want to congratulate the guy,” Minho shrugged. “Buy him a few drinks, maybe even take him out to dinner.”

Changbin shot a glare back at him. Minho was on the brink of letting out another laugh, but managed to keep it in.

“No, seriously. Who was it?”

“You’re finding way too much humor in this. It was nothing. It was Jisung’s roommate. I’ve only seen him once- no, twice. Still it all added up to less than an hour.”

“Jisung’s roommate?” Minho blinked in that cute manner he does when he’s trying to piece things together mentally. He knew _of_ Felix but he had never actually met him before. “I didn’t know Jisung had friends like that.”

“He’s also hyung’s friend, too. They seem to be super close.”

“What?! Channie didn’t tell me he knew him too! He just told me to ask you about it.” He sat back in his seat with a huff, grabbing his drink once more. Right now he felt cheated.

“Well he does. Both of them know him extremely well, so if you want to see him, ask them.” Changbin was quickly growing tired of this conversation and Minho could tell. Changbin didn’t know why everyone made such a huge fuss about it. It was an accident. Jisung apologized. Felix apologized. They were fine.

“Okay, okay, I’ll drop it,” Minho sighed out. He couldn’t help but to enjoy talking with him like this. “That’s not even what I wanted to tell you.”

Changbin shot him a curious look that beckoned for him to go on.

“I already talked to hyung about it, but I wanted to tell you personally,” Minho started. The sudden change of tone from playful to serious got Changbin’s full attention and kept him quiet. “I want you guys to perform here.”

Changbin’s eyes widened before the last word could even leave Minho’s mouth. Suddenly lightheaded, he had to hold onto the tabletop to keep from falling over.

“W-what?”

There was no way he heard that correctly. How much had he drank at this point? It couldn’t be enough to hinder his hearing _that_ much.

“You guys have finished some new songs, right?” Minho clarified, proving the topic of the conversation to be just as Changbin thought. “Let’s put it like this,” he slid his drink out the way to lean closer to him. “I’m offering to pay 3RACHA to perform one night here.”

“ _Us?_ You seriously want 3RACHA to- you’re _paying_ us to perform here? _3RACHA_?”

Changbin was sent back into denial. Minho’s club was one of, if not the _most_ frequented on this side of town. So many other talented and well-known acts have been invited by him to perform. Sure Changbin thought 3RACHA was hot stuff. It was in the name. But they had usually done free shows underground. It wasn’t completely unheard of them to get paid for their time, but this was something more new.

They weren’t signed to any label or anything. They didn’t have a schedule. They were just a group of three guys that uploaded things to SoundCloud and went to wherever the hell they wanted to go. They had only been in the business for a few months by now. But here Minho was trying to change that pace just a little bit.

“You know I’m a huge fan of you guys. I have always been one since Chan hyung started showing me the first things you all made. Actually, he showed me that duet you and Jisung just made. It’s really good, Changbin.”

Without finding any words to respond, Changbin just sat there gaping at him and his offer. He was pinching himself under the table to make sure this wasn’t actually a dream. That someone didn’t somehow spike his drink.

“It’s something that’s been on his mind for awhile now I know,” Minho added as he watched Chan do his thing in the DJ booth. There was a small smile on his face before he set his gaze back onto the bewildered Changbin. “It will help the both of us. 3RACHA in getting more recognition, and me because I know people will come to see you three. So, more money for my business. What do you say?”

”Hyung.” It came out as almost a whisper but miraculously Minho still heard it.

“Hm?”

“I’m just…”

Changbin wanted to tell him how much it meant to him that he would offer for them to perform at his club. They were such a new group that it felt so nice for someone to trust in them. So much that he was actually wanting to pay them for their work. It wasn’t that money meant anything to Changbin. He already was rich as it was. But the details of the offer made him know just how much Minho trusted in them. Like there was not a single doubt in his mind that his decision would lead him to any sort of failure.

That’s what Changbin wanted to tell him but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead he got out of his seat to cup Minho’s face with his hands and pull him into a kiss. He only stayed that way for just a moment before he felt like the sudden act might make Minho punch him.

A hand moved to his mouth as he stepped back. Minho was staring straight at him with something he couldn’t quite make out in his wide eyes. Changbin knew he wasn’t a very physically-accepting person. He wasn’t sure why he did that.

“I-I’m sorry,” was all he could muster out.

“Why are you sorry?”

Minho’s previously wide eyes had shrunk back in size now as his enchanting smile crept onto his face. He slowly reached a hand out to hold onto one of Changbin’s. Gently he rubbed his finger overtop the soft skin of Changbin’s hand.

“Yes or no?” He questioned in a patient way. Minho’s head was tilted just slightly as he sat looking up at Changbin.

The two of them watched each other with only the sound of music and mashed up voices between them. They didn’t need words to communicate. Too long have they known each other to not be able to figure out what the other was saying in their mind. Changbin looked like he was stepping across thin ice. It was as if he was asking, _is this really alright?_

Minho reassured him with a small squeeze to his hand. It was all Changbin needed before he could voice out a small, “yes.”

  
  
  


**3RACHA** 🔥

**Channie Hyung**

( Okay I’m all done for the night, where are you guys? )

( Hello? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Hi hi )

( I am on the second floor with Hyunjin )

( We got tired from dancing so we stole a table and a bottle )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Please tell me you didn’t steal the bottle )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Nooo we paid. We stole the table and got* a bottle )

( Come join us )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Where is Changbin? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I’m not his keeper )

( He probably can’t hear his phone )

( Or maybe it died )

( The phone, not Changbin )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Are you drunk )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I peed it all out so I’m on my second wind 😙✌️ )

( I can’t say the same for Hyunjin )

( I’ll probably have to take him home )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Well, since Changbin isn’t answering, I’m heading up to you )

  
  
  


Chan was able to find Hyunjin and Jisung fairly quickly as they were close to the stairs. The two of them had a fresh bottle of soju sitting between them. It seemed like they weren’t keen on downing the entire bottle quickly.

“Do you really think it’s a great idea to bring him all the way up here while he’s drunk?” Chan asked as he stole a seat beside Jisung. Looking at Hyunjin even under the dim light he could still see his face was flushed from his excessive drinking.

“Ah hyung~” Jisung waved a hand in front of him. “I had to. He kept trying to go back to talk to the bartender. So I pulled him up here as a deterrent.”

“Is he straight?” Hyunjin suddenly asked with crossed arms. “Is that it? Is that why he’s not attracted to me? Jisung tell me,” he said, putting a hand onto the table in front of him. “Have I lost my touch? Am I not stunning?”

“Beautiful,” Jisung agreed without missing a beat. “Just let it go already. He’s not into you for whatever reason and Minho hyung will have you for breakfast if you keep trying to go near him.”

“Maybe I want Minho hyung to have me for breakfast…” Hyunjin muttered, pouring himself another shot. It was safe to say that his sobriety had left the station awhile ago.

“Speaking of Minho,” Chan piped in to change topics. “Has he talked to you?”

“Yeah, he said don’t touch his workers.” Jisung nodded.

“No, not that. About 3RACHA.”

Jisung only gave him a confused look so Chan continued.

“He said he wanted to be the one to tell you…” Chan furrowed his brows in thought. He was sure by this point in the night Minho would have gotten around to telling him. “Well, anyways. He’s paying us to perform here next weekend.”

“WHAT?!” Jisung nearly knocked the bottle to the floor in his sporadic movements. Luckily Chan was able to grab it before it went anywhere. “He’s paying us to perform here?! Are you serious?!”

Jumped out of his chair, he was shaking Hyunjin by the shoulders. “We get to perform here! And get paid for it! 3RACHA is!”

Hyunjin held his head down low, the shaking not settling well in him. “Jisung, I’m happy for you, but please don’t shake me.”

Whatever influence that alcohol had put on Jisung’s body was now gone in his burst of adrenaline. His body shook in excitement as he looked around for something. Chan only pulled him back down into his chair before he could run off to do something stupid.

“It’s great isn’t it?” Chan was beaming at him as he held onto Jisung’s shoulder. “I didn’t think he would actually listen to me. I thought it was a bit of a long shot.”

“Hyung likes you so much though,” Jisung thought aloud. “I mean hell, he prefers you to DJ here over anyone else. Friendships aside, he trusts you with music.”

Chan looked away out of embarrassment. “He does, doesn’t he? But that also goes for you and Changbin, too. He trusts 3RACHA enough as a whole to not break his business.”

“I think you guys are great,” Hyunjin jumped in from leaning himself against Jisung. “A lot better than some of those underground rappers. God, I remember one of them I saw when I went with Jisung-“ he laughed at the memory and smacked his friend’s leg. “Ugh, that was so bad.”

“I don’t even know who he’s referring to, honestly,” Jisung admitted as he poured a shot for Chan. “But you did amazing as always, hyung. You deserve to finish this bottle in place of Hyunjin.”

“Are you going to be okay taking him home by yourself?”

“I may be able to use some help,” Jisung sweat dropped with an uneasy smile. “You can stay over. I know Felix won’t mind if you sneak into bed with him. You know he sleeps better with other people.”

Chan nodded in agreement as he accepted his shot given to him by Jisung. “Let Hyunjin try to sober up a little bit before we leave.”

  
  
  


**2H**

( Ji )

( Come gt mr )

  
  


( You’re literally in the bathroom stall. Just walk out )

  
  


**2H**

( Ita licked )

  
  


—

  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

You’re the one that needs a babysitter, they said. Well look here. Hyunjin got me crawling under bathroom stalls to unlock it for him and I still haven’t seen Changbin

**Chan** @cb97

I’m sorry we ever doubted you

  
  
  


“That was gross, Hyunjin,” Jisung muttered as he practically carried the taller boy out of the bathroom. It wasn’t until Chan helped hold him up that he was able to straighten himself up. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Awe~ you love me~?” Hyunjin giggled and planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek. “I love me too~”

“Ugh!” Jisung quickly wiped his cheek off on Hyunjin’s shirt. “You’re fucking gross, Hyunjin. I’m about to make you walk on your own.”

“Come on, Jisung,” Chan sighed. “We’re almost there. Then you can lay him down and let him sleep.”

Within just a short amount of time; though Jisung swore an eternity had passed, Jisung got the three of them into his apartment. Thankfully Minho’s club wasn’t far from where he stayed. It was closer than Chan or Hyunjin’s house, anyways. It was a bit of a struggle to get Hyunjin’s shoes off of his feet at the entryway, but he managed to do it just the same.

“Okay, I got it from here,” Jisung said as he began dragging Hyunjin across the hardwood towards his room. “Goodnight, hyung.”

“Goodnight,” Chan echoed before he veered off to Felix’s room.

Opening the door silently, Chan was met with Felix soundly sleeping with the blanket pulled up to his head. Felix, being on the lighter side of sleeping, woke up to the bed dipping slightly under Chan’s weight. It was too dark for him to see so he stretched a hand out until it made contact with Chan’s face.

_“Hi, Felix,”_ Chan greeted with a light chuckle. _“Is it okay if I sleep in here?”_

Too tired to form any coherent words in either English or Korean, Felix settled for humming out an okay and closing his eyes again.

Chan gently pulled the smaller boy closer to him in a hug and found himself falling asleep far quicker than he usually would. With the help of alcohol in his system and someone beside him, it was much easier for the insomniac to actually get some sleep.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you so much for reading and I encourage any sort of comments you may have ❤︎ I’m starting to post these updates earlier on Mondays so I hope you’ll still be able to find it
> 
> See you next week ☆〜（ゝ。∂）


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning or night, everyone~ (depending on whenever you’re reading this) It’s been so long since I’ve written this chapter. This week I present you with caring Felix ❤︎
> 
> Also thank you for 300 hits!

* * *

  
Morning came earlier for Felix than he would have liked it to. Since he hadn’t planned for any company before he fell asleep, his alarm clock went off at its usual high volume. It was only when he felt someone shifting beside him that he remembered he was not alone. His arm shot out from beneath the blanket to silence his phone in hopes that it would be quick enough to make his friend go back to sleep.

Using his thumb to unlock the phone, Felix left the screen light on so he could see just enough around the room. The phone stayed sitting on his side table as Felix rolled over to watch Chan rub at his eyes.

“Sorry, I forgot you were even in here,” Felix apologized as he gave the older a small hug.

As Felix pushed himself up into a sitting position, Chan stretched out a lazy hand until it plopped down on Felix’s leg. _“Have a good day,”_ he murmured hardly coherently before taking Felix’s pillow that was no longer being used and hugging it to his chest.

“I’ll try to keep the noise down,” Felix promised as he moved off of his bed and searched around his room for his clothes. Once they were in hand he took those to the bathroom along with his phone so he wouldn’t disturb Chan’s slumber any longer.

As he walked down the dark hallway, Felix noticed Jisung’s door standing ajar with a low light coming from it. He figured it was left that way to make it easier to get out and get to the bathroom if one of them needed to. With that in mind, Felix rushed himself with getting ready so the bathroom would be free for use.

After finishing getting himself ready, Felix decided to check in on his roommate. Thankfully the door didn’t creak when Felix pushed his way through. Standing in the doorway he could see the two of them messily laying in bed as if they blacked out the second they came into contact with the mattress. Hyunjin was halfway on his side, nearly hanging off the bed with Jisung passed out using the aforementioned’s legs as a pillow.

Just because he was a kind soul, Felix moved over to Jisung’s designated half of the bed and carefully pulled him up until his head was rested on a pillow. There he was able to fix the disheveled blanket overtop of the sleeping boy. On the other side of the bed Felix shifted Hyunjin’s body just enough so he wouldn’t be in danger of falling off the edge. Since it was too difficult to pry the blanket out from underneath Hyunjin to lay it over him, Felix fished out a spare blanket from Jisung’s closet to do the job.

Satisfied with his work and sure that the two would sleep more comfortably like this, Felix let himself out of the room. Finally he could let himself be on his way to work. There wasn’t much time he had left to play around with until he would make himself late.

Just as any other typical day, Seungmin had beat Felix in coming to work once again. Despite them having the same shift time, Seungmin almost always made it into the bakery before Felix could. Felix swore that one day he would manage to be faster. But the day that he would, he would more than likely call his friend worried sick about where he was at and if he was okay.

“Goodmorning, sunshine,” Seungmin greeted from behind the counter with a soft smile. He was in the process of tying his apron behind his back. “How is Felix doing? You never got back to me about your brownie agenda.”

“ _Morning, Min_ ,” Felix greeted back warmly as he locked the door back behind him. It was still before opening hours and the bakery was lit with only a few lights this far. Felix figured Seungmin must not have been here long enough to get to turning on the rest of the lights.

“I’m doing good,” Felix started as he moved to clock in on the register. “I could always use more sleep, but I think I got a decent amount. And as far as the brownies go, I did finally give them to him but I never heard anything from him about how he liked them.”

“He was probably in love after the first bite,” Seungmin nudged him with a small smirk. After Felix was officially clocked in, he walked with him to the kitchen area. “Why don’t you text him and ask him about it?”

Felix scrunched his nose slightly in response and shook his head. “I don’t have his number or anything. It’s okay, I’ll probably hear from Jisung later.”

Seungmin watched him with an analyzing look that seemed to last a lifetime. Just when Felix was going to ask what was wrong, he huffed in what sounded like defeat. Dropping the subject for the time being, he shook his head to himself and wandered off to begin prepping for opening.

“Come on, let’s get to work already.”

  
  
  


**3RACHA🔥**

**J1sung**

( Seo Chang Bin )

( Did you get kidnapped? )

( Are you being held for ransom? )

( Quick- what’s your bank information so I can send your captives money and break you free )

  
  


( I didn’t get kidnapped )

( My phone just died on me )

  
  


**J1sung**

( You should keep that thing charged )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Where did you go? Last time I saw you was on my break )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Yeah, you missed out on the best news ever 😤 )

  
  


( You mean the performance? )

( Minho hyung told me )

  
  


**J1sung**

( What?? )

( When did he tell you! )

  
  


( Right after hyung’s break )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( 🤔 )

( My hyung senses are tingling )

  
  


( Please no thinking )

( Be like Jisung for once 😚 )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Bitch?? )

( I think all the time )

  
  


( Okay, then think about meerkats or some other safari animal )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( You sound evasive )

( Changbin? )

( Did you two fight? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( DID YOU PLAY AUSTRALIAN SLAP JACK WITH HYUNG )

  
  


( What. )

( No, we didn’t fight )

( Why would you think that )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I can’t tell if your lying or not )

  
  


( Hyung I promise we didn’t fight or anything )

( You expect me to start something after he offered to have us at his club? )

( Besides, when have we ever actually “fought” 😒 )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Fine. I’ll give it to you that you two just bicker )

( But that doesn’t disregard this feeling )

  
  


( You’re reading too much into it )

( Minho hyung and I just talked about the offer and how you told him Felix knocked me out over some drinks )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( You know you can talk to me, right? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Are we not talking right now? )

  
  


( Yes Jisung. Yes we are. )

( I’ve got a hangover so I’ll be in bed for awhile )

  
  


**J1sung**

( You’re hungover? How much did you drink? )

( Did you make it home okay? )

  
  


( Yes. I don’t know. And of course I did. )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I gotta go- )

  
  


( What? Go where? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Hyunjin had way too much to drink so Jisung is playing caretaker )

( I’ll still be here if you need me 🤗 )

  
  


( I’m going back to sleep )

  
  
  


After coming back to Jisung’s apartment so early into the morning, the three partiers stayed in bed until Felix came back from work. At least, Chan stayed in bed until his Aussie brother-not-brother came in and woke him up. Meanwhile in the other bedroom, Jisung had the very thrilling privilege of waking up early to the sound of Hyunjin trying to get out to go to the bathroom.

It had only been maybe an hour since Felix had left to go to the bakery. Ever since then, Jisung had been babysitting the very hungover Hyunjin. He prayed that he just wouldn’t get sick anywhere but the bathroom. Surely he would disown his friend if he managed that one, but not before he would make him clean it up himself. Luckily however, Hyunjin seemed to like sleeping in the bathtub just fine. Jisung was at least nice enough to tie his long hair back for him. It would be a shame if he would have to shower the boy too because he got sick in his hair.

Leaning up against the tub with his head on the side of it, Jisung was in the middle of falling back asleep when Felix entered their shared bathroom. Being as tired as he was, Jisung couldn’t even pick his head up and look at him at the sound of him coming in.

Felix nudged Jisung in the leg with a small, “hey.”

“Hi, Felix,” Jisung murmured back with hardly any effort. “Did you have to pee or something?”

Felix was standing over him, observing the two of them. A warm cup was held in place in his hands. He set it down on the bathroom counter for a second so he could crouch to Jisung’s level. There he gently pulled him off of the side of the tub so he was sitting up.

“You’re going to get a kink in your neck like that. Go lay down in your room,” Felix advised as he tugged at his wrist to sway him to move.

“I can’t,” Jisung shook his head, but only slightly. Even though he had caught a second wind last night, it didn’t mean he was safe from his own hangover. “I’m watching Hyunjin.”

“That’s what I came in here for. I’ve got something that will make him feel better. I left you one too on your nightstand.”

Finally Jisung looked up at him with shininess in his eyes, suddenly feeling a lot more awake. “Oh, no Felix. Don’t worry about it. He’s my responsibility.”

Being an absolute angel was Felix’s full time job and Jisung swore to it. Anytime that Felix was hungry and Jisung was home too, he’d always ask if he wanted to eat with him; he would make it for the both of them anyways. When Jisung was sick, Felix didn’t hesitate on picking up medicine on his way home from work. Throughout the day his mind was focused on other people and how to make them happy. If they were happy, Felix was happy.

“Come on, I mean it,” Felix tried again, crouching down to pick Jisung up in his arms. Physical strength was another thing Felix was good at. On the surface with all of his clothes on, he may seem like he was just slim, but really he was no stranger to the gym.

“I know you’ve been up for a long time looking after him so drink what I left you and sleep for awhile. You won’t feel better if you don’t.”

Already Felix was carrying him out of the bathroom and down the hallway to his own bedroom. Just as he had done before, he used his foot to move the blanket so he could put Jisung down on the bed. He reached for the glass that was resting on the nightstand and handed it to Jisung.

“Make sure you drink all of it before you go back to sleep,” Felix instructed as he pet Jisung’s hair tenderly. “Call me if you need anything, okay? I’ll be here for awhile.”

“I love you, Lix,” Jisung sniffled. Maybe the reason he was always so accident prone himself was because he loved it when Felix did things for him like this. He knew whoever Felix would end up with would get pampered night and day. He also hoped whoever it was would deserve such treatment.

“Goodnight, Sungie. I’m going back to Hyunjin now so sleep well and feel better.”

It wasn’t at all night time when Felix had said that. It was only a little after 4 in the afternoon. If it were night time, he’d be in classes right now until the prime time of 9 at night. Sometimes later. He had to be at the university much later than anyone would prefer just so he could keep his day job that paid for his said classes. It wasn’t always that pleasant, but it worked.

At least Jisung and his very interesting friends kept Felix distracted from much of his own life events. Keeping his mind on Hyunjin was more preferred than thinking about how tired he was. So gently he closed back Jisung’s door so it would be dark enough for him and revisited Hyunjin.

The one mentioned was as still as he had been left, continuing to lay in the bottom of the tub. As gently as he could so Hyunjin wouldn’t be jerked around as much, Felix took the hungover boy by under the armpits and slid him up the back of the tub until he was sitting up.

“Stay just like that,” Felix put his hands out hovered over Hyunjin just in case he tried to slide back down. Quickly he took up the still warm cup and knelt beside the tub with it. Not bothering to try and hand it to Hyunjin to work himself, Felix brought the cup up directly to Hyunjin’s mouth.

“Don’t spill it on yourself. Actually drink it.”

Hyunjin moved a lazy hand up to the cup to try and be something of an independent person. Of course with his boggled mind he only knocked against it and spilt some on his face. It was just a tiny bit. Only enough for Felix to wipe off with the back of his hand. Pushing Hyunjin’s hand away, Felix tried again with making him drink it. Once all of the liquid was gone, Felix set the cup down and rested a hand against Hyunjin’s cheek.

“You’re still really warm. How much did you drink?”

“Not enough,” Hyunjin responded with hardly any delay.

Clearly Felix didn’t think the same with the way he raised a brow at him. “You do realize you’re sleeping in a bathtub, right?”

Hyunjin looked at him with a pitiful look on his eyes. As if him sleeping in the bathtub wasn’t pitiful enough to make his state of being well more than obvious. “Felix, am I not attractive?”

Was he still drunk? With the way he sounded, Felix couldn’t help but to feel like Hyunjin was trying to come on to him. Did he think Felix liked him because he was taking care of him right now? Felix did this with everyone, though. Thankfully Hyunjin continued, putting Felix’s nerves and mind at ease.

“There was a really pretty guy at the club last night. But Felix, the guy didn’t even bat an eye at me. _Me_.”

Hyunjin brought his hands up to his face in sadness. His body slunk back down into the tub as he muttered something unintelligible.

“Maybe he’s straight,” Felix offered as he gently brushed a stray hair behind Hyunjin’s ear. “Not everyone likes beautiful guys, you know. Don't beat yourself up over it.”

Felix really was one of the best when it came to complimenting people without a second thought about it. It was one of the many reasons why so many people liked being around him. He was a bit of an ego booster. He was in the middle of attempting to comfort Hyunjin further by stroking his head when Chan entered the bathroom.

_“Oi, Felix, come on. I ordered food for us.”_

“Ugh, food,” Hyunjin gagged at the mere thought of eating anything. He pushed himself down in the tub so he could lay on his side once more. “Don’t even mention that to me. I’m going back to sleep. I don’t feel great.”

Standing up, Felix pulled the curtain to the shower closed to help block out more of the light for the hungover boy and followed Chan out to the kitchen. There were already two bowls of Japchae waiting on them. From the looks of the steam coming from them, it must have just arrived. Felix happily sat himself down at the table and went straight to eating. It was only now that he realized he hadn’t actually eaten yet today.

“You’re not hungover too? Everyone else here is,” Felix noted as he observed the elder. He seemed to be in a great mood and wasn’t acting like his head or stomach hurt. If it did, he was doing a fantastic job at masking it. He was even willfully eating.

“I don’t drink to get drunk,” Chan shook his head as he explained. “Unlike _some people_ here, I just do it enough to get a buzz and that’s it. Somehow even Changbin got hungover.”

“Hyung is hungover too?” Felix looked up at him with food halfway to his mouth. “He’s not by himself, is he?”

“I’m sure he’s not too bad off,” Chan assured. “It’s more than likely just a slight headache for him. He’s not big on drinking either.”

Small headache or not, Felix wished Changbin had been here too so he could give him something to feel better with. With everyone else here, he surely had to be alone. And that didn’t sit too well with Felix and his caring nature.

He was halfway through eating when a lightbulb went off over Chan’s head in remembrance. A hand slapped down on the table in Felix’s direction to get his attention, causing the one in question to jump slightly in his seat.

_“Felix._ ”

_“Chan,”_ Felix replied with a confused look as to what the sudden burst in energy was about. He looked around slightly with his eyes before adding a small, “hyung.”

“Next Saturday night. I need you to clear your schedule.”

“I don’t… think I have a schedule next Saturday night,” Felix slowly admitted with a small scratch to his head in thought. He usually didn’t work on the weekends. It was a rare occurrence for it to happen. Unless he wanted an extra shift or two, he stuck to working during the week before his classes. The only other thing that could possibly take up his time on the weekends was if Seungmin wanted to do something.

“Great.” Chan was beaming at this point and leaning across the table towards the younger. “3RACHA gets their own little show at Minho’s club that day and you’re invited.”

_“What?! Really! Wow, that’s amazing, hyung!”_ Felix’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights. He reached his hand out to smack it down on Chan’s in excitement. “I’m really happy for you! I mean, I know you already do your own thing there, but this time it’s all of you that get to do it. How come Jisung didn’t say anything?”

“He’s probably too hungover and preoccupied with Hyunjin to even think about it, but he was just as excited too. Especially when I said he would get paid for it.”

Felix nearly choked on his noodles when the notion of money was brought up. “Huh? It’s a _paid_ gig?” He asked through a bit of coughing.

Chan nodded proudly with his arms crossed in front of him. “I know, right? I hardly believed it too when Minho told me. But you’ll come, right? We’ll get you in.”

There was no chance that Felix was going to let the chance of seeing his friends perform slip by him. He had already missed seeing them at the underground shows. Usually Felix would be too busy with his classes to be able to go with them anywhere. Chan especially worked during the weeknights at the club so Felix never had gone to see him.

But then again, Felix had never even been to a club before. In the time he’s spent so far in South Korea, he’s just never made the time to try it out. Would he even fit in, he thought. He didn’t describe himself as much of a partier. That’s when he thought about Jisung. His friend was the furthest thing that outwardly sought out human interaction, yet he still got out of the house and went to the club very frequently. Surely if he could do it, Felix could too.

“Yeah, of course. I’d love to come see you guys,” Felix shone a toothy smile at him. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. What songs are you going to do?”

“We haven’t gotten that far yet,” Chan admitted as he sat back in his chair in thought. “I’ll get us all together soon when everyone’s feeling better and figure it all out then.”

“You _have_ to put ZONE in there,” Felix shot him a stern look. “I won’t forgive you if you don’t.”

Chan chuckled softly at that and gave him a nod. “Okay, just for you I’ll make sure that one gets in there.”

“Hey, since we’re the only ones not dying in some way, did you want to play a game?” Felix asked once they finally finished their food.

“Shall I show you how people play slapjack around here?” Chan asked with a bit of an amused look, making Felix hide himself in his hands out of embarrassment.

“I think I understood it from when hyung went for the card instead of me,” Felix sighed as he tried to rid the memory of knocking him out.

“Good, then you already know how to play,” Chan smiled as he helped himself to Felix’s room to find his playing cards.

  
  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

Just let me forget it ever happened 😢

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday! I hope you’re all staying safe and healthy out there (*´ω｀*)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~

* * *

**  
3RACHA🔥**

**Channie Hyung**

( I think you’ve both had enough time to rest now )

( It’s time to get to work )

( We need a game plan so we don’t go in blind )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Is that not the best way to go in? )

  
  


( You mean so you can forget your own lyrics again? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I’m being serious. This is really important for us )

( We can’t screw it up )

( Not that I trusted any one of us to do that 🥰 )

  
  


( No, I get it. It’s a big deal )

( Come over, we can get it all figured out here and then we can go eat )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Party at Changbin’s 🥳 )

  
  


( It’s not a party )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Will you just let me have some fun in my life for once? )

  
  


( That sounds dangerous )

( Feel free to come over whenever and let yourself in )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I’ll be over soon 👍 )

  
  
  


There was less than a week for the trio to get everything figured out. Despite it just being a short show, they still were anxious about what to do and how to do it. This wasn’t just something for them, but something for Minho’s benefit too. Letting down the person that entrusted them with so much was not at all an option for them.

Chan was the first to arrive at Changbin’s flat. As always he easily let himself in and headed straight for the studio room. From all the time spent here, Chan knew exactly where everything was. He could maneuver through the entirety of the space even in the dark. On days that they worked on new songs, the three of them would all stay there to sleep. With Changbin living alone, he had plenty of room for people to stay if they so wished.

Without seeming like it, Changbin honestly liked the company. He was the most sheltered extrovert that Chan or Jisung had ever met. It was like you had to peel off the initial distant layer that Changbin showed to get down to the part where he actually liked being around people. So far not many people had stuck around long enough to get to the core of who he was.

When Chan stepped into the studio, Changbin was already leaned back in his seat going through the files on his computer. He had his headphones on listening to whatever track was currently playing for him. A smirk playing on Chan’s lips, he leapt out and grabbed the back of Changbin’s chair, jerking it slightly.

“What the fuck?!”

Changbin threw his headphones off of his head and onto the counter space as he looked back at who was behind him. Once he realized it was Chan he let out a heavy huff and smacked his arm.

“Why did you scare me like that? I swear you’re becoming more like Jisung every day.”

Laughing with his entire body, Chan draped his arms around Changbin in a halfway apologetic hug. “I saw the chance and had to take it,” he claimed.

Not bothering to try and push Chan away from him, Changbin continued to sit there with an annoyed look on his face. His arms were crossed at his chest as the older finally let go of him and took up a seat beside him.

“I really should keep a better eye on the cameras so I know when you guys come in,” Changbin muttered as he put his phone on the counter where he could see it. Notifications of movement at his front door were turned on for him, but he had neglected even watching it in favor of diving straight into business.

“That would just ruin the surprise,” Chan shook his head and looked towards the computer screen. “So what are your thoughts about everything?”

“Well, I wanted to wait until Jisung got here to really start thinking about it.”

“I’m already here.”

The muffled voice behind them sent both of them jumping in surprise. Jisung was standing leaned up against the door frame with a piece of cheesecake that he swiped from the fridge in his hands. By the looks of it, he was already on his third bite. His cheeks were stuffed to the point that he really resembled a squirrel.

“God fucking damn it, Jisung,” Changbin cursed as he slumped into his chair, holding his hands to his head. He felt like he was going crazy with how many times people kept sneaking up on him. “How did you get in here? My phone didn’t even go off.”

“I came in right behind Chan hyung,” Jisung lazily pointed with his fork. His eyes were still fixed on the cheesecake he was currently devouring. “By the way, this cheesecake is really good. Where did you get it?”

Changbin deadpanned at him, pulling everything he had in him to try and formulate a response. Leave it to Jisung to leave someone speechless. Not only had he slipped in without even Chan noticing him behind him, but he also managed to sniff out the fresh cheesecake Changbin had just bought.

“You came in behind me? I didn’t even hear you.”

With a shrug, Jisung merely just sat himself crisscrossed in the chair on the other side of Changbin. For once he set his plate down to look at the computer screen. On one side was all their audio files. The other had his current song being played.

“Hyung, we definitely need to put in our duet,” Jisung spoke up with a finger pointed to the title _Carpe Diem_ in the list of songs in the file. It was the track Chan produced for them to write lyrics to. It was by far one of Jisung’s favorites despite it being on the shorter side of the spectrum.

“Felix said to put in ZONE or he’ll disown me,” Chan added in.

“Ah, Felix!” Jisung facepalmed himself in remembrance. “I forgot to tell him! I was too hung up on Hyunjin. He’s coming?”

“Yeah, he said he would make sure he doesn’t have anything planned for that day.”

“Ooh,” Jisung rubbed his hands together with a grin on his face. “This will be fun. He’s never been to a club before.”

“There’s people that have never been to a club?” Changbin asked as he started making a separate folder to copy their set songs to.

“Not since he’s moved here, he hasn’t,” Jisung shook his head as he finished the last bite of his cheesecake. Well, _Changbin’s_ cheesecake that _he_ stole. To make things more accurate and honest. “I tried to take him before but he was always busy. So I’m glad that he’s finally tagging along.”

“Does he even drink?” Changbin thought.

“He’s not adamant about it, but he’ll still have some. I just thought he might like it because he likes to dance,” Jisung shrugged. He stood up with his now empty plate and shimmied to the door.

“Are you about to get another piece?” Changbin stopped him before he could go with a short glance.

“Nooo, I’m just going to put this plate and fork up,” Jisung promised, showing him the empty plate. “We’re going to eat after this, right? I’m saving room for the good stuff.”

“Okay, just know I got it for you anyways,” Changbin informed nonchalantly, causing Jisung to freeze.

“Y-you really did?” Jisung was already tearing up.

“What? Yes, you said you wanted it.”

Jisung blinked at that, wondering when he had said that. All at once it hit him. He had joked about if Changbin would be at a store that sells cheesecake and if he could buy him some. He didn’t think he took it literally.

Setting his plate down for a second, Jisung moved to the side of Changbin and hugged him at the shoulders. “You’re the best hyung ever!” Looking towards Chan he added, “no offense to you, I still love you too.”

Not at all offended, Chan put a hand up in front of him. “It’s all good.”

“Just go put that away so we can finish our work,” Changbin sighed out in plea.

  
  
  


**Jisung**

@j0ne

Changbin best hyung 😤🥰

**Minho** @meowho

That’s rude 😑

**Jisung** @j0ne

@meowho He bought me cheesecake 🥺

  
  
  


“I think this should be enough,” Chan decided after what felt like an eternity of going through everything. They wanted each song to flow into the next so they could keep their momentum going. There was a bit of a theme in style chosen for their songs. A lot of people always show up to the club on the weekends so they had to think about what style they would most enjoy.

Changbin pulled a flash drive out of his computer and placed it in Chan’s palm. It contained the folder of their selected songs so Chan would be able to transfer it to his laptop. Since he is the one in control of all the audio, he would need it.

Finally Changbin stood up with his arms stretched out above his head. He knocked his chair to roll backwards so he could get away from the counter. It felt so good to be able to move around again to him.

“God, I’ve been so cramped for who knows how long. Let's go eat, I’m starving.”

The remaining two got up from their own seats and followed Changbin’s suit heading out of the room. Catching a glimpse of something out of the ordinary, Jisung narrowed his eyes and reached a hand out to catch Changbin by the hood of his jacket.

Stopping in place, Changbin gagged slightly at the pressure of his jacket against his throat. He used his own hand to pull the fabric away from his throat and look back at Jisung.

“Ah hyung, what did you do to yourself?” Jisung finally let go of the hood as he asked. “That’s a strange spot to have a bruise. You should be more careful.”

“What are you talking about?” Changbin narrowed his eyes at him in confusion.

Chan moved over to gently push down Changbin’s jacket until he saw the dark mark right below his left shoulder. “Oh, he’s right. Changbin I didn’t know you were dating someone.” He gave him a mysterious smirk.

Changbin on the other hand slapped a hand over where the mark was and froze in thought. “When did he…?” It was a sentence he hadn’t meant to let slip through his lips. But before he could react to exposing himself, his ears began turning a faint shade of red in realization.

_I was too distracted by something else at that time to notice. I’m going to kill him._

“ _He?_ ” Jisung repeated in an exclaimed voice filled with surprise. “So it’s not actually a bruise?”

“Wait.”

Suddenly something clicked in Chan’s brain as he pointed towards Changbin in question.

“It all makes sense now. You left with Minho, didn’t you?” There was an open smile on Chan’s face as he said it. He knew he figured it out.

“You fucked hyung?!” Jisung asked in a voice that was far too loud and high pitched. Subconsciously he had taken a step back from the black haired boy.

“No- I didn’t,” Changbin shook his head quickly in denial. This was something he preferred to keep under wraps. It had been going so well so far. “Damn it… it’s not like that. We didn’t get that far.” He groaned as he pulled the hood of his jacket over his face, wishing it would be enough for him to disappear by. At least it was enough to shield his reddened ears.

“So it was him,” Chan prodded just for clarification purposes.

“God, yes. It was Minho hyung,” he reluctantly admitted but followed quickly with, ”but it’s not like that. We’re not dating.”

That seemed to put Jisung at ease just slightly, but not by much at all. He had yet to move, leaving the distance between them still.

“I must be missing something here,” Chan voiced as he scratched the side of his head.

“We just have an agreement. That’s it.” It definitely wasn’t enough for Chan to follow so Changbin was forced to reluctantly continue. “Maybe we find the other attractive enough to blow off some steam. But we don’t fuck. It’s nothing, really.”

“Nothing?” Chan raised a brow.

“You know we have always been super close. It’s just gotten to be a little bit... more.”

He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation right now. He hadn’t meant for anyone to find out about it. It was merely something so trivial for him. The two of them weren’t dating, so why would he even have to say anything? What they were doing was harmless fun. It was just something better left unspoken about.

“Look, can we not talk about this anymore and go eat?” Changbin softly pleaded in defeat while tugging on the end of Chan’s shirt.

“Yeah, sure. No, we’ll drop it,” Chan shrugged nonchalantly, pulling an arm around Changbin’s shoulders.

“Before we go I have to pee-“ Jisung quickly said and shot down the hallway without waiting for anyone to respond.

“He could have done that earlier,” Changbin complained lightly, rubbing his stomach at the feeling of it growl.

“We were working,” Chan reminded him.

The second that Jisung locked the bathroom door behind him, he slid down its surface with his face in his hands. Thoughts were running through his mind at a hundred miles per second and he just needed a second to process them all. There wasn’t much time he could spare before his friends would get curious as to what he was doing so without properly letting his thoughts rest, he pulled out his phone and went straight to his messages.

  
  
  


( Lix )

( Where are you right now? )

  
  


**Lix 🐣**

( I’m in between classes with Seungmin )

( Why? Are you okay? )

  
  


( If anyone asks, I went to bring you something )

  
  


**Lix 🐣**

( What? )

( What are you bringing me? )

  
  


( Nothing )

( Just play along )

  
  


**Lix 🐣**

( Have you been drinking? )

( Should I pick up some more medicine on the way home? )

  
  


( 😭 )

( No- never mind )

  
  
  


Praying that no one will question Felix for authenticity over Jisung’s lie, Jisung replaced the phone back into his pocket before getting up. Only a moment to compose himself was spared before Jisung exited the bathroom and headed back to the front of the house in a hurry.

“Hey, Felix just texted me and he needs his favorite hyung to bring him something he forgot to school,” Jisung explained in his best act as he found the pan Felix had made Changbin brownies in sitting on the kitchen island. “This is his, right? I’ll take it back with me.”

“His favorite hyung?” Chan raised a brow at him. “You’re only one day older than him.”

“Semantics,” Jisung waved a dismissive hand at him before taking up the pan. “I gotta get going if I’m going to make it to him in time. Eat a lot of food without me, okay?”

He waved to them while backing up towards the door and let himself out. Once he was outside he ran straight for his apartment. After a few minutes of running; just to be sure he was far enough away, he finally slowed to a meager stroll. Lightly he smacked the pan against his forehead in frustration. It was a bit of a strange sight for any passerbys, but then again everyone was minding their own business.

The pace of his walk continued to be that of a snail’s as he made it closer to his apartment. For him, his day was over with. There was nothing else he wanted to do. Not when he felt like this.

Upon entering his apartment, he set the pan down on the stack in the cabinet Felix kept them. Straight afterwards he made a beeline for Felix’s room and made himself at home in his bed. There was no way he would put himself to sleep in his own bed tonight.

  
  


After many hours had passed, Felix finally found himself stepping into the apartment. Immediately once he made himself inside he looked around for Jisung. The lack of noise in the place led him to believe his friend was quietly watching videos in his room.

“Where is he?” He asked to no one but himself when he found Jisung’s room to be empty.

Closing the door back, he tried his own room. Silently he stood in the doorway when he found Jisung’s sleeping body curled up on one side of the bed. Using his hand as a cushion to shut the door closed without much sound, Felix tiptoed to his side of the bed and crawled in.

“Hey… Sungie.”

Felix lightly shook Jisung’s arm to coax him awake. When Jisung finally opened his eyes, Felix began tenderly stroking his hair.

“Are you okay? Why are you sleeping in here?”

Uncurling himself from his ball form, Jisung held an arm up to Felix. _“Hug.”_

A second wasn’t able to pass by before Felix accepted the request and pulled Jisung into a hug. Jisung buried his face into Felix’s chest, letting out a small sigh. It was amazing how much a simple gesture could ease his mind and heart.

“I just feel weird, Lix. But I always feel better when I’m with you, so let me sleep in here.”

Felix couldn’t help but to smile and squeeze Jisung at the sound of that. It made him happy knowing that his presence helped other people.

“Of course you can sleep in here, but why do you feel weird? Are you sick?” He put his cheek against Jisung’s forehead to feel the temperature. It didn’t feel like he had a fever.

“Will you make fun of me if I tell you?”

“I’d never make fun of you. Especially not something that’s making you feel like this,” Felix promised in his most sincere voice. The low and gentle tone of it was music to Jisung’s ears. He was always a fan of the way it sounded.

“Well,” Jisung breathed out in a sigh as he played with the fabric of Felix’s shirt between his fingers. “I found out the person I really like is kind of seeing someone else… Or something like that.” He wasn’t really too sure himself with what exactly it was. All he knew was there was no room of chance for him.

”Oh, Jisung I’m sorry,” Felix apologized even though he had nothing to do with it. Saying he was sorry even for things that weren’t his fault was just a part of his nature. “I know that’s gotta be tough. I didn’t even know you liked someone.”

Jisung let out a small laugh that held no humor to it. “Yeah, I just didn’t really think I had a chance to begin with, you know? Sure we were friends, but…”

“No, I don’t know,” Felix cut him off. “You’re amazing, Jisung. I really mean it. You’re adorable and caring and so compassionate. Don't you dare go dragging your name around.”

A hint of a small spread on Jisung’s face. He hid it by nuzzling further into Felix’s shirt. “Thanks, Lix. I needed to hear that.”

“I’ll always be here to remind you of these things when you forget,” Felix promised. “It’s what good soulmates do, right? So just try to forget about it for awhile, get some sleep, and I’ll make you breakfast in the morning, okay?”

“Will you make me those cute bunny apples you do, too?”

“Whatever you want,” Felix agreed, kissing Jisung’s forehead. “Go back to sleep, okay?”

“Good night, Felix.”

Jisung considered himself lucky to have a platonic soulmate like this. One that was so eager to shower him in affection whenever he was feeling down. Even when Felix didn’t really understand what was going on, he still gave his all in trying to make his friend feel better.

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday ✌︎


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ Hope you’re all doing well ❤︎

* * *

  
For the next few days, Jisung stayed holed up in his apartment. Instead of joining his friends at the club or even taking up the offer of free food, he stayed tucked away in the comfort of his own bed. The only time he left its security was when Felix had physically pulled him out of his room and set him at the table to eat. At least someone was making sure he didn’t skip out on his meals.

With Felix usually being out and away from the apartment anyways, he wasn’t able to catch on to Jisung’s incredibly sheltered lifestyle he had taken up. Every time he was home Felix figured he had already gone out and done what he needed to for the day. To Jisung’s relief he didn’t really ask about what he did while he was gone. Making sure that no questions would be asked, Jisung made sure to keep the topic on Felix’s day.

Throughout the day his phone was used for the sole purpose of watching videos. He supposed he could have used his computer for that, but his phone just happened to be much more convenient for him. Because he didn’t bother putting his notifications on do not disturb just in case Felix needed him for something, he periodically got bothered by texts.

Usually they were from Hyunjin telling him he needed assistance in trying to get the bartender’s attention. Or that he was lonely and wanted to go eat with him. These went rotting on his phone without a single thought spared to them. Jisung didn’t know why he kept trying so hard to do something Minho had specifically told him not to do. But this time the message that had interrupted his video wasn’t from his annoyingly pining friend. For a change it was Changbin calling for his attention.

  
  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( Jisung, are you free? )

  
  


( Now’s not really the best time )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( Maybe sometime later then? )

  
  


( I don’t know, I think Felix was trying to do something later )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( I was hoping we could go over some things before our performance )

  
  


( Right, about that… )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( What is it? )

  
  


( I’ve been thinking )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( 🤨 )

  
  


( I don’t think I want to do it )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( You don’t want to do what? Think? )

( That’s okay, you don’t have to think about anything )

( Well I guess some of the stuff I want your thoughts on 🤔 )

  
  


( No, that’s not what I meant )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( I don’t think I’m following )

  
  


( Don’t make me say it 😥 )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( What? Say what? Jisung, you know I’m not a mind reader )

( Just tell me what it is. Or better yet come over and we can talk about it )

  
  


( Please don’t hate me )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( You’re really making no sense right now )

( Did you go drinking with Hyunjin again? )

  
  


( No, I haven’t seen him since I had to drag him to my apartment and take care of his drunk ass )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( So what is it? Just tell me already )

  
  


( 😞 )

( I don’t think I want to do the performance anymore )

  
  


-

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Perhaps he has a concussion?

**Minho** @meowho

Did you get knocked out again?

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho I’m not talking about me 😒

**Minho** @meowho

I think you might have a concussion 🙄

  
  


-

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( What’s your favorite food? )

  
  


( What? Why are you asking strange and obviously known questions all of the sudden? )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( Because you’re saying strange things to me )

  
  


( I mean it )

( I don’t think I want to do it )

  
  


**Changbeanie Baby**

( I’m going to ask this in the most nicest way I can )

( What the fuck are you talking about )

  
  


( The performance )

( At hyung’s club )

( I don’t want to )

  
  


-

  
  


**3RACHA🔥**

( Hyung. Look at your phone )

( Emergency )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Honestly… )

  
  


( You. Be quiet for a second )

( Hyung. )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I’ve been summoned…? )

  
  


( Okay, Jisung. Now tell him what you told me )

  
  


**J1sung**

( I don’t want to do the performance. )

( But you two feel free to still )

  
  


( You fucking idiot, it’s called 3RACHA, not 2BASCO )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Wait wait wait )

( Changbin, calm down for a second )

  
  


( I am not )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Jisung. )

( Why do you not want to do this? )

( You were just as excited as us when I told you we would be doing it )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Yeah well now I’m not )

  
  


( So what? )

( You want out the group or something? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Changbin )

  
  


**J1sung**

( It’s not out of the group I want. Just out of the performance )

  
  


( Really what the hell is wrong with you? )

( You’re seriously trying to give up a paid gig that you know is going to help us grow? )

( Have you lost your mind, Han? )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Wasn’t it you that said I never had one to begin with? )

  
  


( I was kidding! You know that! )

( But right now I’m starting to reconsider )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Look. I just don’t want to do it anymore, okay? )

( Why can’t you just accept my wishes )

  
  


( Because your wishes are ridiculous! )

( Do you ever stop to try and formulate coherent thoughts? )

( You’re really being a dumbass right now )

  
  
  


**J1sung**

( And you’re being an ass )

  
  


( It takes one to know one )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Guys, just stop for a second )

( Please )

( Let’s rationally talk about this instead of insult each other )

  
  


**J1sung**

( Oh no, hyung. According to some people who shall remain an ass, I can’t manage to do that )

  
  


( You know what? )

( Fuck you, Han )

( Maybe we should just do it without him )

( He really doesn’t want to be a part of this anymore )

( It will be refreshing to do things as the two of us )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Don’t say that )

( We’re a team )

  
  


**J1sung**

( You know, hyung? Maybe you are better off without me )

( At least with me out the way you’ll both have someone with a working brain )

( And who knows? Maybe you’ll get a lot more accomplished without me being a distraction, too )

( Bye )

J1sung has left the chat

  
  


( Good riddance. )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I can’t believe you right now )

  
  


( He made his own decision )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( You could have handled this so much better )

( What are we supposed to do now? )

( “It’s called 3RACHA, not 2BASCO” )

  
  


( Is this what we’re doing now? )

( Obviously he doesn’t need us )

( It’s clear that he didn’t think we needed this performance either )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( It’s just hard to believe that with everything you let this go )

( I know just how much YOU need this and you let it go, Changbin )

( Do you even care? )

  
  


( How are you going to ask me that of all people? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I know you’re angry right now so I’m going to give you some space )

( Your mind isn’t clear so just take some time to breathe. We’ll revisit this once everything has calmed down )

  
  
  


Changbin just couldn’t calm down. With a curse he threw his phone onto his bed. He didn’t want to see it anymore. Just looking at it was driving him mad. How could Jisung go and do something so out of left field? They had been planning for this and all of the sudden he didn’t want to be a part of it?

Needing something to distract him, Changbin forsook his phone on his bed, grabbed his jacket, and headed straight out of the door. Nothing good was going to come from him being at home alone. He needed to get out.

Of all places that his feet could take him, he ended up at Minho’s club. It wasn’t so late yet so he wasn’t even sure if the owner would be there. He didn’t keep up with his whereabouts as well as one might have assumed.

Still he bypassed his way straight through the door- he was instantly recognized by the bouncer- and wound up in a corner seat at the bar. If he just wanted a drink, he could have just gone to a regular quiet bar instead of a highly trafficked club. Maybe it was for the loud music and flashing lights that swept around the place that made Changbin come here.

The only thing he really needed right now was a distraction. Anger kept fuming out of him like a volcano eruption. The music and lights were just a tiny portion of his remedy. It was a pity that Chan wasn’t DJing at the time. Changbin always preferred his mixes over everyone else’s that played there. But maybe it was a good thing it was someone he didn’t know. 3RACHA was the last thing that he wanted on his mind at the moment.

“Hey,” Changbin waved down the bartender whose name he hadn’t figured out. All he knew was that it wasn’t the young new hire.

The black haired boy turned and made his way to stop in front of where Changbin sat. He leaned slightly against the counter so he would be able to better hear. “Yes, what can I get for you?”

“I don’t care what it is, just make it have a hard punch,” Changbin answered as he placed down a bill that was more than enough to cover whatever drink he was given.

“Certainly,” the bartender bowed slightly after taking the payment.

Before Changbin even knew that any time had passed him by, a honey colored drink with an orange slice stabbed onto the glass was placed in front of him. By the looks of it, it seemed to be some sort of fruity drink. Unimpressed, Changbin gave a questionable look to the bartender.

“What is this? A screwdriver?”

The bartender shook his head with a smile. Unlike Changbin, he was very pleased with himself. “ _ Zombie _ ,” he replied. “Trust me when I say it has an unexpecting kick to it.”

The wink he was given was enough to make Changbin study the drink once more. After mentally thinking fuck it, he picked up the drink and tried a sip of it. Flinching slighting at the taste of alcohol, he put it down for a second.

“Ah, what is it? Do you not like it?” There was a small frown on the black haired boy’s face.

“No, that’s not it,” Changbin shook his head, looking between the bartender and the drink. There was a bunch of sugar in it, he could tell. But there was also the unmistaken taste of alcohol in the first taste. “I wasn’t expecting that at all. I mean, I thought it would just be some fruity cocktail.”

A small laugh came from the bartender as he stood up straight again. “Let me know when you’re ready for another.”

Instead of trying to savor the taste of it for as long as possible, Changbin finished the drink before hardly any of the ice in the glass could melt. Surprisingly it was more tasty than he thought. Without even needing to say anything, a fresh one replaced the empty glass. That too had been downed at an alarming rate.

Quicker than he realized, Changbin’s mind was getting cloudier and cloudier. With his elbows propped up against the counter, Changbin rested his face in his hands. Suddenly he felt so heavy and disoriented. In the good news, he started to forget why in the world he was drinking so many of these sneaky concoctions.

After the second refill was gone, the bartender no longer came back with more. With the way Changbin rested his head in a pillow of his arms on the counter, he figured he was done.

“Damn I really feel it… I don’t want to move though. I’ll just take a little nap to feel better,” he mumbled to no one but himself as he shut his eyes and let himself drift away in the midst of everything going on around him.

  
  


It wasn’t very long after he fell asleep that a swift kick to the bottom of his barstool jolted him awake.

“What the hell are you doing? This is a club, not some daycare hosting nap time.”

In a dizzy frenzy, Changbin bolted his head up to see what was going on. Immediately he regretted the swift movement and put a hand to his temple. Vision blurred, he looked up to the aggravated voice beside him. Through squinting at the form, he still couldn’t figure out who it was. His senses were far too meshed at this point so he did the only thing he knew to do and that was to argue back.

“And what the hell do you want?”

“You’re offending me. Is my club really that boring to you?”

Finally he recognized that voice and put Minho’s face to it. Slowly he started to make out the oversized brown button up shirt that was stuffed into tight black pants. What were they, leather? Changbin had to stick a hand out to touch it and confirm that it was indeed leather.

Out of surprise, Minho backed up at the touch of Changbin’s hand on his thigh. He leaned forward to really observe his features before deeming that he was just shitfaced right now.

“How much have you had?”

“Where have you been?” Changbin asked with a slight frown that he failed to conceal. He didn’t have the best control over his facial features at the moment. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“What? Did you text me or something? I didn’t get anything,” Minho questioned as he checked his phone just to be sure he didn’t miss anything.

“No,” Changbin huffed, leaning an arm back against the countertop once more. “I left my phone. I was too angry to look at it so I just came straight here.”

Humming, Minho raised an eyebrow at him slightly. With arms crossed, he tapped a finger on his bicep in thought.

“Hey, can you move?”

“Move where?”

“My office,” Minho answered simply.

Changbin didn’t have to be sober to figure out the rest. Very carefully he put his feet on the floor. Dipping slightly at his own weight, Minho threw his own arm around his waist for support.

Without having to make it too far, the two of them got into Minho’s office. It was a space that Minho didn’t use so much. Really the only use for it was for him to watch cameras or deal with all of his finances. Any other time he would be out in the actual space of his club, dancing and watching things first hand.

Sitting Changbin down in his plush office chair, Minho crawled on top of him to sit with his knees bent on either side of Changbin’s lap. Minho placed his arms behind Changbin’s neck lazily as he leaned in for a slow kiss. Only a few seconds into it and Minho could pinpoint exactly what it was that Changbin had been drinking. The taste of it practically burned in his mouth.

“You know, Bin,” Minho voiced out after he finally parted. “I came here to actually do some work.”

“Am I the work?”

Minho hung his head back as he let out a loud laugh, body shaking with each breath. Even from a drunken Changbin he hadn’t prepared himself for that sort of response. Once he quieted down to a giggle, he shook his head.

“No, you’re not. You’re a distraction.”

“I need you as a distraction right now,” Changbin admitted softly as he lightly hugged Minho at the waist. His head was leaned back against the back of the chair as he stared into the older’s dark eyes.

“From what? You said your phone made you angry or something? Is it something to do with that?” Minho tilted his head as he tried to figure it out himself.

“I… don’t remember right now.”

“If you don’t remember then why do you need me as a distraction?”

“Because,” Changbin said, poking a finger through one of the holes on Minho’s button up shirt. There was a black shirt underneath so he couldn’t touch Minho’s bare skin, but it was fun enough for him to poke at his muscle. Minho never did make it easy on him with getting to his skin. “I just want to make sure I’ll stay forgetting.”

A small sigh left Minho’s lips before he placed them on the spot where Changbin’s jaw met his neck. He sucked softly on in, careful not to leave behind any evidence of himself. The last time was an accident. At the time he was beside himself and hadn’t noticed how rough he had been. It had been the only time he slipped up. Mistakes were learned when Changbin had scolded him for it. As punishment he was given one in the same spot. It was just too bad Minho knew how to work concealer.

“I need to work, Bin,” Minho stated again as he pulled away for the last time. He removed himself from the boy’s lap and stood beside the chair so Changbin would have free roam to move. “We can continue this later but right now I have something else I have to do.”

Changbin looked like a beaten puppy at that. He wasn’t even sure why he felt like this. Minho had business to attend to and was nice enough to give him something that would hold him over until he was done. Surely he hadn’t become  _ that  _ needy. It was more than likely the high alcohol content streaming through his body at the moment.

Not being able to stand this, Changbin decided to move over to the small leather chaise that was pressed up against the wall and lay down on it. “Your club isn’t boring,” he noted as he stretched himself along the length of the piece of furniture. “I just need to shut my mind off for a little while.”

“I know my club isn’t boring,” Minho scoffed as he plopped down into his chair. “It’s mine. Now shut that mind and mouth off of yours. I need to concentrate.”

-

On the other side of the spectrum, Jisung was locked up in his room. Sheets of music were scattered all around his room. At the foot of the bed on the floor in the midst of the mess is where he sat; knees bent up to his chest so he could shield himself from what he’s done.

There was a crumbled up lyric sheet in one of his tightly fisted hands. His work tended to be a bit disorganized from the get-go but right now it was a complete disaster. Regret of what he had done to everything was sure to come, but right now all he could feel was pain and sadness.

Did he think Changbin was going to take the news well? Maybe he thought it would have gone a little better. Jisung had so much trust in him and he thought the same was true for Changbin too. But the words he was attacked with only made him think that none of that was true. That maybe he was just under some other impression. Now he cursed himself for ever getting attached.

It hurt him, to say the least. Changbin didn’t think he was that smart or helpful. He really let him go in the end. Of course Changbin and Chan would be able to manage just fine without him. They were far more than capable of making a name for themselves without him.

Suddenly he felt the tears come back with even more force than the first time. He picked up a new sheet of paper from the floor and pressed it to his face, hoping it would be enough to dry his tears.

The sound of his doorknob being tried sent him into an instant state of flight or fight. Looking around, he looked for a spot to hide. Too much noise would be made if he tried to hide somewhere in his closet. Under the bed would be too easy. He knew that only a matter of minutes would be able to pass before Felix came back to get the door opened. He had to think of something quick.

Sure enough Felix bypassed the lock on Jisung’s door by sticking some of his playing cards through the door frame to push the latch in. It was very unlike Jisung to lock the door in the first place so he figured something was up.

When the door finally opened Felix strained his eyes against the low light of the room that came from the sole source of a lamp on Jisung’s desk. After a moment of letting his eyes adjust did he see the mess made in the room. The cards from his hand dropped at the sight of it all, unintentionally causing an addition of stuff on the floor.

“J-Jisung…?”

No answer came back from him in reply. Moving around the room, Felix tried his best to step over the sheets of paper across the floor in effort to look around. The first place he tried was the closet. Apart from the clothes and shoes, there was no trace of Jisung to be there.

“Jisung?” Felix tried again but this time looking under the bed. Again it was clear. There was also no sign of him behind the curtains.

He was starting to get worried now. Pulling out his phone, he quickly dialed Jisung’s number. It only rang once before Felix heard the phone in the room. Looking around he found it to be laying in the middle of the bed. With a thin frown he cancelled the call.

“Where the hell did he go?” Felix asked in an uneasy voice as he messed around with his phone again. Only a second passed before he brought it up to his ear and pressed his fingers against his neck as he waited.

_ “Hey _ . Is Jisung with you?”

Felix bit the corner of his lip in anxiousness when heard that he was not.

“I was just wondering because something happened. His door was locked and his windows are too, but there’s this giant mess and I don’t know where he went.” He was starting to ramble again. “I’m not worried about the mess, just if he’s okay or not. But I don’t think that’s the case because it’s all his music stuff and I know how much it all means to him. I mean he wouldn’t just trash it all like this.”

He collapsed down into a crouch, letting a distraught sigh come out. His eyes kept sweeping over the mess as if that was going to tell where Jisung was. Silently he sat listening to the other speaker on the phone.

“What? Jisung did? Why would he say that?”

“I don’t know why he would say he suddenly doesn’t want to. But I don’t really have enough time to try and fix everything myself so I really need your help, Felix. I know I can trust you to figure out what Jisung is thinking and help him sort it out,” Chan smiled through the phone. “You know him better than any of us. Use that special pixie magic of yours.”

“Right, pixie magic,” Felix chuckled lightly. “Wish me luck,” he added before finally hanging up to deal with the mess.

He started by making small stacks of papers around him. He sorted them into lyrics and what looked like sheet music. “Why would you do this to your work, Sungie?” Felix wondered aloud. “All this stuff is so good but you were so mean to it.”

Starting with the spot around him, Felix began smoothing out the pieces of paper crumpled up on the floor. The one that just had its edge crumpled caused him to stop. Even in the dim lighting he could see slightly smudged handwriting. Brushing a finger lightly against it he could feel that it was slightly wet. It was just recently tear-stained. He knew it. He knew Jisung had to still be in this room hiding somewhere.

Slowly he stood up and took a look around the room once more. It was really as if he had turned invisible. Felix pulled the curtains back just to be sure he wasn’t hiding behind them in some mysterious way. Giving up, he gradually started to back out of the room.

“I know you’re in here, Sungie. I don’t know where you’re hiding though and I’m sure you don’t want to show me either. So I’ll go out to the living room and come back in five minutes so you can have time to come out. Okay?”

He stepped into the hallway and slowly started closing the door. “I’m leaving now. Five minutes. I’ll be back,” he called before shutting the door all the way and going to the living room.

  
  


**Felix**

@fabulix

T-5 starting now

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday~


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ I tried to make this chapter a bit longer. Fun stuff (:

* * *

  
Upon hearing the door close, Jisung waited in silence for another minute as he contemplated whether or not he should come out of hiding. He didn’t necessarily want to talk, but he knew Felix would lose sleep over this. So finally after two minutes, Jisung slid out from his hiding space underneath his mattress and stepped onto the floor.

Observing his mess, he began to feel all of his raw emotions swarm back to him. Hurriedly he picked up all of his papers and shoved them into the small trash can that sat in the corner of his room beside his desk. Once they were all in there, he sat back on his bed, trying to gain whatever composure he could before Felix would come back in.

He thought hard about what Felix might say and how he should respond. Already he blew up once at Changbin and would never forgive himself if he did the same to Felix. Right now his mind was a war zone. Hunching over, he threaded his fingers through his hair and pulled on the strands.

After the five minutes were up, Felix came back into the room and jumped at the sight of him sitting on the bed. So he had been right with knowing Jisung was just hiding in the room. But without knowing where in the living hell he had been, it made Felix a bit paranoid. How could he just materialize in front of him so easily?

Carefully he reached a quaking hand out and lightly touched Jisung’s arm. The solidness of it sent him recoiling his hand back to him, clutching it with his other. It was as if he really was ready to believe his best friend was a ghost.

“Fuck, Jisung. You really are good at hiding,” Felix gasped. “I thought I looked everywhere in here for you.”

“What do you want, Felix?”

Refusing to even look at him, Jisung kept his hands against his head. His voice was low and sounded like it was strained. Maybe it was from all the crying he did. Maybe it was because he was trying to keep out some other emotion from coming out.

Slowly lowering his hand, Felix gave him a small frown and said, “Chan hyung told me you didn’t want to do the performance anymore and that you left…”

“Felix, please.” Jisung shook his head slightly. He didn’t want to hear this. “It wasn’t supposed to be like that. I just wanted out of the performance. I didn’t mean to completely get rid of the thought of 3RACHA. But one thing led to another and-“ he let out a heavy breath that was far from being even.

Afraid to even move, Felix stayed stagnant just a meter away from him. He watched as Jisung moved his hands from his head to his face, rubbing at his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” he sighed in an exhausted way. “It’s probably for the best that things are this way. If I do my own work then no one will have to have any sort of blame put on them. If what I make is bad then that’s on me. I won’t keep dragging other people down.”

Felix’s eyes moved to the trash can in the corner of the room where all of the papers were sticking out of it. Lunging straight for it, he began pulling all of the papers back out and straightening them out once more.

“Sungie, why are you trying to destroy all of your hard work? You spent too much time on this stuff to treat it this way.”

Jisung couldn’t take it anymore. Standing up, he snatched the papers away from him and attempted to rip them up. He only managed to rip a few sheets before Felix tackled him, knocking him straight onto the bed as the papers fell all around them.

_“No stop!”_ Felix yelled as he wrestled with Jisung underneath him. With a bit of effort he was able to sit on Jisung’s torso and successfully pin down his wrists at either side of his head. The last thing Felix wanted to do was hurt him, but him struggling left him no choice but to put a bit of pressure down on him.

Both boys were panting in this moment; Jisung more than Felix just because his emotions were going crazy. There was far too much weight on Jisung for him to even think about moving. Really he was no match for Felix’s strength. The boy didn’t go to the gym and work out for nothing. Maybe Jisung should be as devoted to doing that as Felix was. Maybe then he wouldn’t have become so very defenseless as he was right now.

Honestly at this moment Felix was starting to scare Jisung. Never had the cheerful boy raised his voice at him or put him in this sort of situation. Sure he had gotten mad about the brownies, but even then he had been fairly calm in confrontation. He never knew that Felix could resort to using brute force like this. But this change of attitude was exactly what Jisung needed to snap out of his tantrum.

“Jisung,” Felix panted, controlling his breathing again. “Please, don’t act like this. I don’t like seeing you like this and I know you’re going to regret what you’re doing later once you calm down.”

There was a mixture of emotions swimming around in Jisung’s eyes. Anger was battling with sadness, one trying to take over the other. In the end, Jisung broke down and began crying again.

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Felix! Why can’t anyone just let me do what I want?”

“But it _does_ matter!” Felix shot back, pushing against Jisung’s wrists in emphasis. “Just tell me what’s going on. Let me help you.”

“It doesn’t,” Jisung shook his head as tears continued to rush out of the corners of his eyes and stream into his hair. “It’s all stupid, you wouldn’t understand. _It’s_ stupid, _I’m_ stupid, even Changbin hyung agreed that I was.”

Felix blinked down at him, trying to make sense of what he was saying. There was no way he was going to let himself agree with what Jisung was thinking about himself. Surely he couldn’t believe that even Changbin would say something like that to him.

“Help me understand, Sungie. You know I’ll listen to you always. Just tell me.”

Sliding off of Jisung’s waist, Felix pulled him up to a sitting position. Gently he wiped away the tears from his friend’s face with the sleeve of his sweater.

“Can you start by telling me why you didn’t want to do the performance? I know 3RACHA is important to you and so is getting your name out there at any chance. So why?”

Felix kept one of Jisung’s hands in his, rubbing over top of it comfortingly. This was a drastic change in attitude from just a few minutes ago. All it took was a push.

“Felix…” Jisung sniffled, trying to suppress his tears. “You know how I said I found out the person I liked was seeing someone?”

Felix only nodded silently so Jisung could continue.

“Well, that person was Minho hyung. It felt weird to me to have to go back into his club after learning that,” Jisung admitted slowly. “I just didn’t want to be around the guy. Especially doing a show for him and getting paid? I’m not that strong right now.”

He used his free hand to wipe away some more tears and sniffled. “I didn’t want to tell hyungs my reasoning because I thought they would attack me for it. But even then Changbin started saying hurtful things to me. I just know they’re true… and I guess that’s the part that hurts the most. So it’s better if I’m just out of 3RACHA as a whole. I won’t hold them back.”

Felix didn’t know whether he should smack Jisung for believing such bad things about himself or he should give him a hug because he really did believe those things. In the end, he settled for the latter.

“I’m so sorry, Jisung. That’s really hard to hear. I understand why you wanted out of the performance, but I don’t think you're better off by yourself.”

“You don’t believe in me either?” Jisung’s voice was higher than usual and laced with hurt.

“That’s not what I meant,” Felix squeezed him tighter to keep him quiet. “I meant you belong in 3RACHA because you’re also a main ingredient. I don’t think you realize just how big a part you play in it.”

“I don’t,” Jisung scoffed with all lack of amusement. “Chan can handle the production work by himself and he and Changbin have no problem writing lyrics without me. They’re two people. They don’t need three.”

“You’re being ridiculous,” Felix argued. “If they didn’t need three then they wouldn’t have brought you in to begin with. _You’re_ the genius writer.”

“Not according to some people,” Jisung muttered, eyes looking to the floor.

“Fuck what other people think,” Felix barked back, moving so that he could look at him. “Jisung, you’re a rapper. You’re not supposed to listen to the haters.”

“They’re the people you’re trying to tell me to work with!” Jisung countered roughly, pushing away from Felix. His angry emotions were beginning to win again. “Just- I’ll be fine by myself. Leave me alone.”

Felix wasn’t sure what to say to that, but he knew he was beginning to say the wrong things. He figured there was some sort of logical explanation to all of this. That Changbin wouldn’t just randomly say mean things to make Jisung leave. The only things he ever heard about the group was how much fun they were having together and how they enjoyed hanging around each other. Just recently Jisung was saying how Changbin was his favorite hyung. Things couldn’t have been so messed up.

Sighing, he knew there was nothing left he could say in this moment. He’d have to come back later and try again with the right words after he could have time to think about it. Right now Jisung was still too angry about everything.

“Goodnight, Sungie,” Felix offered quietly before leaving for his own room. He made sure to close the door back behind him for Jisung’s sake.

  
  
  


( I tried all I knew how, but I don’t think I’m saying the right things )

( It's too fresh on his mind to fix anything )

  
  


**My Main Mate** 🤟

( I figured as much )

( But did you get anything from him? )

( What started this? Why he doesn’t want to do the performance? )

( I tried calling him but he blocked me )

  
  


( Apparently he has or had a crush on Minho so when he found out he was seeing someone, he felt weird about going back to the club )

( And he’s really upset by whatever Changbin said to him )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( What/ )

( Jisung likes Minho?? )

( Since when? )

  
  


( I don’t know. I just found out he liked someone recently. I didn’t even know who it was )

( But he just told me it’s him and that’s why he wanted out )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( Ahh… )

( This might be a bit trickier than I thought… )

  
  


( What do you mean? )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( Don't worry about it 😊 )

( I’ll do my best to figure out a plan )

( And I’ll try to talk to Changbin tomorrow. He also needs time to cool off )

  
  


( Was what he said really bad? )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( Something definitely snapped in him )

( I don’t know why exactly that was because he’s really not that type of person, but don’t worry. I’ll get it all sorted out )

( Sleep well, Felix ☺️ )

  
  


( Good luck with everything )

  
  
  


—

  
  
  


The next morning Changbin was absolutely dead to the world. As if three zombies before even finding Minho wasn’t enough, the boy had snagged two more before finally Minho allowed the drunk to take him home. He had to admit that a highly intoxicated Changbin made things a bit interesting, but he also knew that he would be stuck as his caretaker in the morning. It was a fair enough trade off for him, he supposed.

As it stood right now, Changbin was pressed up to the older’s side, limbs lazily lying on Minho’s body. It wasn’t too uncomfortable for Minho to move him, but he was beginning to get a little hot. Still it was too much of a hassle to actually work up the strength to get up.

Just when he thought he could make this lying still thing work, Changbin’s phone began pinging from the dresser. After three pings he couldn’t take it anymore. In one swift motion he got up to get the damn thing and deal with it himself. He was just about to shut it off when he noticed who it was texting.

He sat back down on the edge of the foot of the bed and opened the messages.

  
  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Changbin )

( Are you awake? )

( We really need to talk )

  
  


( About what? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Come on, don’t play dumb )

  
  


( It would be quicker if you just said it )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Are you still in a bad mood after yesterday? )

  
  


( What caused it? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( What? )

( Are you drunk right now or something? )

( I’m talking about your fight with Jisung )

  
  


( Fight? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( You must have drunk a lot if you don’t remember )

( Just check the group messages )

  
  
  


Swiping back to get to the list of all Changbin’s chats, Minho looked through until he found the one titled **3RACHA🔥**. He wasn’t sure just how far he had to scroll through so he just started at the beginning of yesterday. It didn’t take him very long at all to figure out what was going on.

_So this is what he meant when he said his phone was making him angry_ , Minho thought to himself as he glanced back at the passed out Changbin.

He couldn’t believe this. Clutching the phone tighter in his hands, he was beginning to get infuriated. And Changbin hadn’t told him about this? Was anyone going to tell him about it?

  
  
  


( I’m going to kick his ass )

( What the fuck is wrong with him )

( Is he too good for my club now or something? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Wait. )

( Minho?? )

  
  


( When were you going to tell me? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I’m going to fix it, I promise )

  
  


( Fix what? )

( That prick doesn’t want to do it so I don’t want him )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Just wait a second )

( It’s not like that )

  
  


( Then what is it like? )

( He goes off and will do other shows but not for me? )

( The fuck is that, hyung? Tell me )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( It’s really not my business to say… )

  
  


( You better make it your business )

( Because this is my business we’re talking about )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( 😞 )

( Jisung apparently has had a secret crush on you that none of us knew about )

( And I’m thinking that finding out about Changbin and you kind of broke him )

( He said he feels weird about going there now since he found out )

( It’s not about thinking he’s better than anyone. He was just trying to protect his own heart )

  
  


( You expect me to believe that? I’m pretty sure he flirts with anything that moves )

( Besides. Bin and I, we’re not a thing. We just do things )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Really I’ve only ever seen him even look at anyone when he’s at your club and you’re there, now that I think about it )

( My thoughts are he was just trying to get your attention but I didn’t know until yesterday. You know he’s not very good at these things )

( Whatever you want to call it, it hurt him )

( In my perspective, I get where he’s coming from and why he decided to try and get out of it )

  
  


( Even if that’s true, how do you expect to fix this? )

( You only have a few days )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( By doing my best 👍 )

( I have Felix working on Jisung )

( I was going to work on Changbin but… )

( If you want to help your hyung out 😚 )

  
  


( I’m literally your boss )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( And I’m your favorite hyung )

( Come on, Minho 🥺 I know you’re good at talking to people )

( Plus you’re in a strategic position with Changbin. You might come off as more compelling than me )

( I’m asking you to help me as a friend )

  
  


( Are you not also his best friend? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I am, but you’re already there 😙 )

( You’re not working alone. I’ll be bringing the two together )

( You’re just helping me set it up )

  
  


( Fine 😒 )

( I’ll see what I can do. I’d hate to see you guys break up over me anyways )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( You’re the best 🥰 )

  
  


( But do you seriously think Jisung can be swayed to still do the performance? )

( If what you’re saying is true, I don’t think he would even show up there again )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Keep us on for it 🙏 )

( Have some faith in me )

  
  


( I trust you )

( Thank you )

( And hyung? )

( I’m really sorry )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Awe. It’s going to be okay Minho 😚 )

  
  
  


With a small huff Minho replaced Changbin’s phone back where he found it. He hadn’t expected any of this to be what was bothering his friend. He surely hadn’t expected this to all come about because of himself. Well, the blame wasn’t placed solely on him, but a major contributing factor was because of him. Still though, he found it was only right to try to help fix everything.

First thing was first, he was going to have to cure hungover Changbin. Knowing exactly where Changbin kept everything for such purposes, he got up to retrieve them.

“I don’t even know what I’m supposed to say to him,” Minho mumbled as he messed around in the kitchen to make himself a tea. It was supposed to help with hangovers, but Minho was thirsty so he had to have it first. “Hey Changbin, I’m going to need you to get over yourself and back together with your friends,” he tried, shaking his head immediately after.

He leaned against the counter in thought with his mug held right up to his mouth. Chan was counting on him to get through to Changbin but he didn’t know how he could. Then again, just by explaining the situation, Chan was able to get through to him. Maybe he could do this after all. He just hoped Changbin would sit still long enough for him to get it all out.

Taking a fresh mug of tea along with him, Minho moved back to Changbin’s room. He set the mug down on the nightstand before easing himself to sit beside the sleeping boy. Gently he rested a hand on Changbin’s cheek and rubbed a finger over his soft skin. He looked so peaceful like this. Minho just knew the moment he woke up all of that would change. It was a bit of a pity, but what could he do?

“Hey, Changbin,” He called out while lightly pinching his cheek to get him up. It took him a few tugs but eventually it got the job done.

Changbin squeezed his eyes shut before opening them, instantly feeling the killer headache. “Ah, hyung…” he whined, wrapping his arms around Minho’s waist for comfort. “It hurts.”

“Sit up,” Minho instructed as he moved mercilessly out of Changbin’s hold to go pull the curtains closed. Now it was a lot darker but still there was enough light for him to see.

Changbin didn’t seem to hear him at all. Refusing to move, he stayed laying on his side. Now he was realizing his limit as to how many zombies he could have in one night.

Sighing under his breath, Minho crawled onto the bed and physically got Changbin to sit up himself. “Why do I have to do everything for you? What happened to being self sufficient?”

“Shut up,” Changbin muttered, lazily swatting a hand at him. “You’re loud. It’s hurting my brain.”

“God…” Minho reached over Changbin to grab the mug in his hands and hold it to the less than self sufficient boy’s mouth. “Drink this. We need to talk.”

Suddenly Changbin felt much more awake and perhaps a bit paranoid at that statement. How come he always got nervous when Minho said these sorts of things? Maybe it was because he never knew what was going to come out of his mouth. Even if they had a sort of telepathy skill between them, Minho could tend to be a bit on the unpredicted side of things.

Taking up as much time as he possibly could, Changbin drank the warm beverage at a snail’s rate. Luckily for him, Minho was an extremely patient person when it came to these things. Once it was all gone, Minho took the cup from him and placed it back on the nightstand.

Sluggishly Changbin pulled his knees up to his chest and loosely draped his arms around them. Cautiously he asked, “what is there to talk about?”

“Do you remember why you were drinking last night?”

Squinting his eyes slightly, Changbin began to rack his brain for an answer. In the end he failed to come up with one. All he got was the banging in his head, making him press his hands to it. Perhaps he had done something right after all. Too bad Minho was just here to remind him.

“Your fight with Jisung,” Minho began jogging his memory. “Him no longer being a part of 3RACHA.”

Suddenly it all came back to him like a punch to the face. “How did you…”

“Channie hyung was blowing up your phone. He told me everything.” Minho put his hands on either side of Changbin’s legs so he could lean forward and bring his face close to his. “You know very well that I’m a blunt person, so let me go ahead and call you out. Don't you think you were a little harsh?”

“Me? A little harsh?” Changbin repeated in disbelief. He put a hand on Minho’s face to really make sure it was him. “You’re Lee Minho, right?”

“The fuck is that supposed to mean, Seo Changbin?” Minho narrowed his eyes as he got even closer to him. Never was he afraid to shoot back the same attitude that he received from someone with even more force. 

“It means that I thought _you_ would be on my side with this one. If he told you everything, then why are you not just as angry if not even more?”

The rage from before was building back into Changbin and Minho could feel the heat radiating off of him.

“I’m not angry because he told me _everything_ ,” Minho repeated with more emphasis. “I’m telling you now that your best bet is to make up with Jisung before you ruin yourself.”

Changbin pushed him away by the chest with a bit more force than he had intended. “You’re siding with Jisung now?!” He couldn’t believe this. His own best friend was going against him. He could understand why Chan had the mindset he did, but Lee Minho? Telling him that he would ruin himself if he didn’t make up with Jisung? Did he not hear the words coming out of his mouth? If it hadn’t been for the very real headache, he would have sworn this was just some distorted dream.

Forget the feeling of being hungover, all Changbin felt right now was pure anger and betrayal. Minho didn’t think that he could make it without Jisung. Just how low exactly did Minho think of him and his potential? Did he forget that he still had Chan as a partner? And besides, he’s defending the person who thought he was above him and his club. Not only was Changbin angry at Jisung and Minho, but he was also angry _for_ Minho.

“You know I’m on your side, but right now you’re in the wrong.”

“ _I’m_ in the wrong?!” Changbin threw a hand to his face and laughed. “Are you fucking kidding me? Hyung, really I can’t do this right now.”

Minho scrambled from the bed and towards the door to block it with his body when he saw Changbin moving towards it. There was no doubt that Changbin could easily get past him, but Minho just had to hope he didn’t try.

“Get out of my way.”

It was said as an order instead of a suggestion but still Minho didn’t budge.

“The reason Jisung doesn’t want to do the performance anymore is because of me, okay?”

That was enough to make Changbin stop dead in his tracks but still he didn’t understand. “What the hell are you talking about now?”

“Well, maybe because of both of us,” Minho tried again though he knew Changbin wouldn’t like the sound of it. “He has a crush on me and since he found out what we’ve been doing, he’s become too awkward to even come to my club. Which- I’m really sorry about,” he apologized sincerely even though he had already done so when Changbin first scolded him for it. “It was my carelessness that he found out.”

“What?”

“I didn’t know either until hyung told me just a little bit ago. I thought he was just being playful before,” Minho added. “I get it, though. Your friend fooling around with your crush isn’t the easiest thing to hear.”

“So what?” Changbin asked with arms out in expectation. “Are we supposed to stop this charade or something?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying,” Minho shook his head, finally relaxing his body after coming to the conclusion that Changbin wouldn’t try to charge at him. “Trust me, I enjoy this just as much as you do. But what I’m saying is, you have to understand where he’s coming from.”

“I don’t know what you’re asking of me.”

“I read the messages, Bin. You were too harsh. This is coming from _me._ ”

Minho could admit that he was angry too when first reading everything. Without any context, he felt that Jisung was just being haughty for some reason. Thanks to Chan, he was able to pause and really think about everything. To him, Jisung wasn’t that mature and couldn’t handle some things. It made sense to him that the boy would become paranoid and try to avoid him. With this in mind, he could see everything clearly and come to the conclusion that Changbin really had jumped the gun and used his words to hurt Jisung. He felt bad for it and wanted to fix it.

Slowly Changbin sat back on the bed and massaged his temples. Had he really been too harsh? This _was_ Minho talking, after all. Chan was right when he said he could have handled the situation better. A reason for even taking it to the group chat was because he hoped that Chan would be able to solve the problem for them right then and there. It was Changbin’s fault for not stepping back and letting Chan do just that.

Thinking back on his words now as they came to him, Changbin could only cover his face in shame. He really did ruin the most important thing to him in the matter of a few minutes. And all because he got scared and went off on the deep end.

Minho carefully made his way beside him and sat against him. Soothingly he rubbed small half circles against his back. “I care about you a lot, Changbin,” he offered, his voice lowered down to a comforting tone. “Before anything else, we’re best friends. And that means I want to make sure you’re on the right path. This isn’t the right path. The one you need to be on is with Channie hyung and Jisung. You’ll go so much further in life with them.”

“Still, Jisung isn’t going to want to come back after all that,” Changbin pointed out in complete dismay. “Damn it I messed up. How do I fix this?”

“Felix is on the case with that one,” Minho assured. “I can’t say I know the guy, but hyung seems to completely trust in his abilities. And if hyung trusts them, so do I.”

“Felix is going to be the one to get him to come back? What is he, a miracle worker?”

“I don’t know,” Minho shrugged before draping an arm around Changbin’s shoulders. “I’d like to think I’m something like that. You want some more tea?”

“Yeah…” Changbin slowly nodded. The rage feeling in him was quickly replacing back with that of being hungover and somber.

“Great, I left it on the stove so go get it yourself,” Minho smiled as he flopped onto his back. “It’s my turn to sleep.”

“You bitch…” Changbin muttered as he got up, grabbed the empty mug, and headed to his kitchen with his throbbing headache. He didn’t have the energy in him to argue with Minho anymore and convince him to get it for him.

“Think of it as part of your punishment~” Minho called with a vertical wave of his hand.

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

I mean it. I really hate him sometimes 😒

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next Monday~ As always, feel free to leave any comments. I love responding to you guys (*´꒳`*)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back~ I hope you are all hanging in there and doing well ❤︎ It seems like we really can’t catch a break here. But remember to rest and step back when you need to! We can get through this

* * *

**Lix 🐱**

( Jisung… )

( Please let me in )

( Aren’t you hungry? )

( It’s been an entire day )

( You don’t have to pee or anything? )

( I’m sorry about what I said )

( You could very well make it by yourself if that’s what you wanted to do )

( But I just think you fit so well in 3RACHA )

( You’re like Cerberus or something 🤗 )

( You complete each other )

( Please come out )

( I miss you )

( Hyunjin misses you )

( He’s even stopped talking about the club )

( I’ll take you to a nice café if you come out )

( Jisung please 😢 )

( You can’t stay in there forever )

( I’ll die of loneliness )

( Seungmin isn’t enough friend interaction for me )

( I need my soulmate to live )

( I’m leaving for my classes soon )

( I hope you’ll think about letting me in )

( I don’t like seeing you like this )

( Please be happy again 😞 )

  
  
  


-

  
  
  


**2H**

( Listen up, Han. )

( I’m about tired of you ignoring me )

( If you don’t get out of that room and come eat with me I’m kicking your ass )

  
  
  


The entire time Felix was stuck in classes, he couldn’t help but think about Jisung. Time was running out steadily. He needed to get him back together with Chan and Changbin. Their performance was soon and he was determined to get Jisung back into it. But at the rate he was going, he wasn’t sure how well he would manage it. He started thinking about whether or not Chan had made any progress with Changbin when Seungmin pressed a cold cup against his cheek.

Instantly he snapped out of his daydream to look up at his friend. Seeing an iced coffee being offered to him put a smile on his face. Happily he accepted the drink and took a sip.

“You’re thinking about Jisung again, aren’t you?”

They were sitting outside the school in a small patio area. Seungmin had grabbed iced coffees for them while Felix found a spot at one of the tables. This was usually where they stayed when the weather was nice after and between their classes. They only shared one class this semester, but due to similar schedules, they were able to see each other often.

“I’m worried about him. The only time he comes out of his room is when I’m not there. I’m afraid I won’t be able to do this.”

Felix hung his head low, ashamed of himself for not having fixed the problem by now. He was usually so good at lifting people’s spirits. He wasn’t sure what was different this time.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. I know you’ll get it figured out,” Seungmin nudged him in the side. “He did get insulted in the thing that he’s super passionate about, so I understand that he feels the way he does. But I also know you and I know people always come around to you in the end.”

“But what if it’s too late?”

“I believe in you,” Seungmin smiled. “Besides, you said Chan hyung is helping you sort everything out. So what’s to worry about? Between the two of you, I know you can handle little ole Jisung.”

Felix’s chest felt a bit lighter at that. No matter what kind of problems he was facing, Seungmin always had faith that he would be able to figure it out. Getting through to people was Felix’s specialty and Seungmin knew that well enough. He had yet to meet someone who didn’t fall for Felix’s charm.

“I just wonder if he’s actually still in there,” Felix thought while he drank some more of his iced coffee. “He hasn’t responded to any of my texts I’ve been sending him all day. He could have left at any time I was gone and I would have never known. I still don’t even know where he hides in there.”

“I really doubt he would have gone anywhere,” Seungmin offered. “Angry or not, he still is the same person that hates going outside for things.”

“Yeah, I guess you have a point…” Felix murmured as he felt his phone in his pocket vibrate. He nearly choked on his coffee when he read the simple word.

  
  
  


**Sungshine** 🌻

( Intruder )

  
  
  


“What? What is it? Is everything okay?” Seungmin asked in concern when Felix tripped in the process of trying to get up from the table.

“Jisung just sent me a text that said  _ intruder _ ,” Felix explained as he handed his almost empty iced coffee to Seungmin. “Finish that for me, I have to go.”

“What? An intruder?” Seungmin called back to him as Felix was already sprinting. “Shouldn’t you call the police?”

He sighed when he figured Felix hadn’t heard him at all. The boy took off faster than a rocket without a second thought about anything. “He never does think in these kinds of situations,” he said to no one but himself as he poured the rest of Felix’s coffee in with his own with a downcasted look. “Now I’m going to be up all night.”

  
  


In record speed Felix made it to his apartment door. His heart was beating straight out of his chest as he entered the passcode into the pad. The second he felt the door unlock, he swung it open and entered in.

“Jisu-“

He was tackled to the floor the moment he entered the main area of his apartment. It was a good thing Felix was well versed in this sort of thing. Without much effort he was able to flip over whoever attacked him, pinning them down on the stomach and stretching one of their arms behind their back roughly.

“Ah! Ahh! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I thought you were Jisung! Please get off me!”

Having the upper hand while sitting on top of the intruder, Felix could focus now on his details. His eyes widened. He knew that long blonde hair from anywhere.

“Hyunjin?!”

Scrambling, Felix moved off of him and helped him sit up. He reached out to gently hold the arm he had just previously bent behind Hyunjin’s back.

“Shit! I’m sorry! Is your arm okay? I didn’t break it or anything did I? Does it hurt?”

Hyunjin rolled his arm a few times to try and make it feel natural again. It didn’t feel broken, but definitely he could feel something in it being strained.

“God, what are you?” Hyunjin groaned with a whiny undertone. “A secret service agent or something?”

Felix rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. “Ah no… I just took a lot of self defense classes back in Australia.”

“That makes perfect sense,” Hyunjin noted as he finally got to standing up. It put a giant dent in his pride that he was reprimanded so fast. “Why did you run in here like that?”

“Jisung texted me that there was an intruder,” Felix explained as he showed him his phone. Finally it hit him. “Oh, was he talking about you?”

“What?! So he  _ is  _ here!”

At full speed ahead Hyunjin ran back to Jisung’s room but found it locked once again. As Felix was coming up behind him, Hyunjin was already roughly working his credit card in between the door and its frame to get it open.

“Won’t your card break like that?”

“I have more, it’s fine,” Hyunjin assured and finally got the door open once more. Replacing the card into his pocket, he pushed the door open with his foot but stopped in the doorway.

There were a good twenty or so origami cranes all laying around the floor. Felix stepped in to pick one up and saw that they were made from Jisung’s discarded music papers. He supposed Jisung had actually listened to him when he said not to treat his work so badly. This was better, but still not what Felix had in mind.

“That bitch is toying with me now! These weren’t here when I checked before,” Hyunjin muttered as he threw open the closet to dig through it again as if Jisung would have been dumb enough to choose that as his place of refuge. Even now it was merely filled with his clothes 

“Han Jisung, stop playing games with me and just come out.”

“At least now I think he’s in a better mood,” Felix offered hopefully as he picked up all the paper cranes and set them on the messy desk. In the midst of the clutter of pens, papers, and wrappers, Felix noticed the phone missing from it. Jisung must have it with him. He did text Felix after all.

After contemplating trying to call it, Felix decided to do as he had the first time around that got Jisung to come out of hiding. Lightly he pulled Hyunjin from the closet and stood by the door.

“We’re going to the living room. You can meet us out there when you think you’re ready. But you can’t keep doing this. It’s not healthy.” Felix looked to Hyunjin and nudged him in the side. “Tell him you won’t attack him if he comes out.”

“Fine,” Hyunjin huffed. “I won’t attack you even though I feel that is the right thing to do after ignoring me for days on end.”

Felix couldn’t be too picky with the promise so he took it as it was. “We’re closing the door. Come out when you’re ready, okay?”

With that, Felix pulled Hyunjin out of the room before closing the door loud enough for Jisung to know they were gone. There he walked to the couch with Hyunjin and waited patiently.

“Are you sure that’s going to work?” Hyunjin asked with doubt in his voice.

“It did last time,” Felix shrugged as he felt his phone buzzing in the pocket again.

  
  
  


**Seungmong** 🐶

( Hey! )

( Is everything okay? )

  
  


( The “intruder” was Hyunjin 🙄 )

( But I’m waiting for Jisung to come out of hiding )

( I need to get this ordeal solved if they’re going to still perform this weekend )

  
  


**Seungmong 🐶**

( Oh I’m glad it wasn’t an actual robbery or something )

( Still you bolted in there without even knowing that )

( What if something had actually happened to you? )

  
  


( Awe Min 🥰 )

( I can handle myself just fine )

( I actually flipped Hyunjin over and reprimanded him after he tackled me )

  
  


**Seungmong 🐶**

( He tackled you?? )

  
  


( He thought I was Jisung )

( It’s all good now 👍 )

  
  


**Seungmong 🐶**

( 🤦 Let me know if you need anything, okay? )

  
  


( I will 😸 Thanks Seungmin )

  
  
  


-

  
  


**Seungmin**

@seungmong

I worry about him more and more everyday 😩

  
  
  
  


“Alright. I’m out,” Jisung announced quietly as he stood at the threshold of the hallway. He had changed clothes from the last time Felix had seen. He was in a white t-shirt and loose fitting red pajama pants. Felix was grateful that he had been moving around in his room after all instead of just hiding.

“Come sit,” Felix instructed as he patted the empty space on the couch beside him.

Jisung gave Hyunjin who was sitting in the recliner a side glance. After a second of neither moving, Jisung strolled to sit in the spot offered to him.

“I didn’t answer you because I felt that you would drag me back to that stupid club,” Jisung started without looking straight at Hyunjin.

“I just wanted to go eat.”

“Out that bartender you were told to leave alone?” Jisung finished for him.

“Why are you getting hostile towards me?” Hyunjin asked with a bit of hurt in his voice. “If you don’t want to go there, fine. I’m not going to drag you there. I just wanted to get my best friend out of the hole he’s dug himself.”

“Jisung…” Felix put a gentle hand on Jisung’s leg while giving him a soft look.

“I’m sorry,” Jisung apologized with a bowed head. “I guess I’m still a bit angry over everything.”

“It’s okay,” Felix assured, rubbing his hand against Jisung’s leg. “But I’m telling you, I don’t think hyung meant those words.”

“Why do you keep taking his side?” Jisung questioned as calmly as he could. It was still as clear as day that there was some bite to it. “You don’t even know him. You know  _ me _ and you won’t defend me.”

“But I know both of you,” Hyunjin butt in before Felix could even begin to think about the reason for it. “And I know you’re both partially responsible for this. Yes, hyung might have started the fire, but you didn’t stop being the gas to it. You fell into the pit and let yourself get burnt.”

“God, stop speaking in your weird analogies, you’re annoying me,” Jisung muttered. He knew it was a bad idea to come out of his room.

Furrowing his brows, Hyunjin used both hands to push himself out of his seat and stand in front of Jisung, leaving the recliner to rock back and forth in its place. Maybe Felix couldn’t talk to Jisung in a certain way, but Hyunjin wasn’t Felix and he was about to let Jisung have it.

“You’re being a fucking coward, Han.”

Felix tensed up and looked between the two. It seemed like a fight could break out at any second. In this moment it was hard to believe that the two of them were best friends. Both of them were staring daggers at the other.

“How do you figure that?” Jisung gritted back.

“What started all this? Because you found out the dude you like is making out with someone else? You’re telling me a  _ guy _ is more important to you than  _ 3RACHA _ ? Your dignity is more important to you than having your group’s name catered to more people? What the fuck, Han? I know you’re better than this.”

“And what the fuck do you know?” Jisung jumped up on the couch in one motion so he could tower over Hyunjin. He knew it would have remained the other way around if he were just on the floor. He really did think, just not in the ways some people would assume. “You don’t know a damn thing about how I feel.”

“Hey… guys, don’t fight,” Felix held his hands up in front of him as the fire continued to grow between the two of them.

Completely ignoring Felix, Hyunjin just looked up at Jisung. If looks could kill, Jisung would be 6 feet under right now. “I know that you’ve lost yourself to just a few things that were said out of line. I know you’re not actually this weak. You need to get past this and go back to the hyungs. You don’t want to work by yourself. You like being in 3RACHA more than anything. It’s not about what you can do on your own. You and I both know that 3RACHA was everything to you. Why are you letting it go so easily?”

Jisung’s mouth shut softly as Hyunjin continued to throw more things at him. The angered look in his eyes slowly died down. Just by looking at him one could tell that there were gears moving around inside of his head. He was listening.

“I know you got hurt by what was said. I get that, I would be too. But you don’t want to stay like this and be by yourself. You never did. Sure, you make great stuff all on your own, but you’re so much more powerful in 3RACHA.”

“Why do I want to be somewhere that I’m downgraded?” Jisung asked softly after a moment had passed to collect his thoughts.

“Do we not say hurtful things to each other?” Hyunjin asked, the tone of his own voice quieting down now to match Jisung’s. “Are we not close but still get at each other’s throats sometimes? Do we ever mean what we say?”

Jisung visibly deflated as Hyunjin continued to talk. When he put it in the way that he was, it was hard to argue. They had a long history together that included many fights. These days they had come to learn about each other more and how to avoid such stupid quarrels. With his head dropped forward, he slowly shook his head.

Gently Hyunjin reached out and pulled Jisung into a hug. From the height that he was standing, Hyunjin’s ear was pressed against the hard surface of Jisung’s abdomen. Hyunjin couldn’t call himself a very physical person. Sure, he enjoyed a good hug every now and then, but he wasn’t the type to go around and initiate them. He preferred that people not touch him. After all, you don’t go to a museum and touch the artwork.

“I’m sorry,” Jisung voiced in a genuine way. It was an apology meant for both of his friends. One for the way he shut them out for so long. “But this doesn’t mean that I’m not still mad at Changbin for what he said.”

Felix leaned over and hugged Jisung’s legs. This was what progress looked like to him. Though he wouldn’t have ever thought it would take Hyunjin and Jisung nearly fighting for everything to be better.

“You have the right to be mad,” Felix spoke gently. “We won’t take that away from you. But we are still going to get everything fixed back to the way they should be, okay? So will you agree to talk to him?”

“Okay,” Jisung whispered. It wasn’t at all what he wanted to do, but he knew better than to try to avoid it at this point. Between Felix and Hyunjin, he was going to have to face Changbin one way or another.

  
  
  


( It was a bit surprising, but we did it )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( It? )

  
  


( It’s time for the next phase )

( You get Changbin hyung and I’ll bring Jisung )

( We meet up and they talk it out )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( You actually got through to Jisung? )

( I knew you could do it 🥳 )

  
  


( I had some help 😅 )

( I got Jisung out of the room and Hyunjin nearly got him into a fist fight )

( But I think we’re ready )

  
  


**My Main Mate** 🤟

( A fist fight?? )

( And that got him to be able to talk? )

  
  


( They didn't /actually fight. Just looked like they were close to it. Still, Hyunjin’s method worked )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( If you think so… 😅 )

( Do you think now will be good? )

( We really don’t have that much time left )

  
  


( I think I can get Jisung ready )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( Great. I’ll get Changbin and then text you the location )

  
  


-

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Changbin )

  
  


( Yes? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Are you free? )

  
  


( Yes… )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Great. Meet us here in half an hour )

[ location attached ]

  
  


( Us? )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Felix and Hyunjin talked to Jisung )

( We can’t wait around for you two to fix yourselves )

  
  


( Does he even want to talk to me? )

( I admit, I was extremely rude )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( I’ll be there to mediate if I have to )

( But you said it yourself you’re sorry )

  
  


( Of course I’m sorry )

( But hyung I think I really did go too far )

  
  


**Channie Hyung**

( Tell him that, not me )

  
  


( 😞 )

  
  


-

  
  


( Hyung )

( I’m scared )

  
  


**MH**

( Good. )

  
  


( 🤕 )

  
  


**MH**

( I’m not here to sugar coat things )

( You came to the wrong person for that )

( You fucked up, it’s as simple as that. Just fix it )

  
  


( I’d love to fix it )

( I just- this is hard )

  
  


**MH**

( What did you expect, Changbin? )

( Listen. )

( I know I’m not perfect either and I may or may not have said some mean things to some people in the past )

( But you know what? All there is to do after that is to own up to it and be completely honest. If you sincerely reflect on what you did, you might have a chance )

( If not, then you have the rest of your life to think about it and how to change )

  
  


( A chance is all I need )

  
  
  


Even with it becoming later at night, Changbin still met with Chan at a café that was in the middle of where everyone lived. Staring at the empty table in front of him– Chan wouldn’t let him get coffee as he was already anxious enough as it was– Changbin bounced his leg as he waited for Jisung to enter the café. Every time the door opened, Changbin’s eyes would shoot up to look at who it was. And every time it wasn’t who he was looking for.

“I promise he’s coming,” Chan put a hand on Changbin’s shoulder to try and soothe him. “You know he can be slow.”

“Right…” Changbin nodded, thinking about all the times Jisung had run late to their meetings. Of course for something like this Jisung would be sure to take his precious time on getting here. Still that didn’t help him from feeling like he was going crazy. He kept thinking of what to say and how to say it. Messing up again was no option for him. This was his only chance.

Chan slowly slid over his yuja tea until it sat in front of Changbin. “Focus on drinking this instead. It’s good.”

Changbin studied the honey colored drink for a second before giving in and doing as Chan told. Slowly he drank it but ended up finishing it all in one go. He slid the now empty cup back to the sadly frowning Chan. The older gently put his hands around the cup and buried his face in his arms against the table. Finishing the drink had not been what he meant.

He only stayed that way for a minute before he felt Changbin getting out of the seat. When he looked up he saw Felix and Jisung heading towards them with Changbin meeting Jisung halfway. Not a word had been spoken before Changbin embraced Jisung in a tight hug.

“Jisung, I’m so sorry,” Changbin choked out before Jisung could even think to turn around and leave. “I shouldn’t have said what I did. It was extremely rude of me and I’m sorry for not just asking you why you felt the way you did instead of attacking you.”

“Why don’t we go sit down and talk, hm?” Felix offered with a soft smile and a hand on Changbin’s [notably solid] arm. When the two detached, he walked over to where Chan was and slid into the inside of the booth across from Chan so Jisung and Changbin could be facing each other. The last thing Felix wanted to do was make Jisung feel like he was trapped here. He needed his friend to be as relaxed as possible to get through this in hopes of getting back on track.

Jisung kept his head in a downturned state, not brave enough to quite yet look at Changbin. After Hyunjin broke him down, Jisung did have a clearer mind but still couldn’t brush off the bad feeling in his heart.

Seeing the other refuse to speak, Changbin decided he had to go first. “Please forget about everything I said. I was angry and I didn’t mean it.”

“I know you do.”

“Let him finish,” Felix whispered, nudging his friend lightly in the side.

“No, I know it’s true,” Jisung countered with a small glare to the side of him. “I know he doesn’t believe I think like him or Chan hyung does. I’m not stupid.”

Finally, by the will of his own anger, he found it in him to be able to look at Changbin. There was hurt written all over his face instead of something that might seem like Jisung would snap.

“You’re  _ not _ stupid,” Changbin agreed. “Jisung, please listen. It’s not like that. I hadn’t meant for it to come out like that. The thing is, I’m a bit jealous of you. And that jealousy came out in a bad way.”

“What?” Jisung’s face scrunched up, not understanding. Changbin was jealous of  _ him _ ? Did he not understand that Jisung didn’t have anything that he didn’t already own? Plus Changbin was the one seeing the guy he liked. There was nothing of Jisung that Changbin didn’t already have himself. If anything, Jisung was the jealous one. Suddenly he felt himself heat up inside all over again.

“I admit, you don’t think. Or really, not so much,” Changbin started but quickly went on before Jisung could feel threatened. “But I’m not calling you stupid. I’m jealous of the fact that you really don’t think yet you throw out so much good music. It’s like second-hand nature for you to just come up with something out of thin air. There’s no big process for you like there is for me.”

“What he means is,” Chan chipped in, leaning towards him just a bit. “He thinks you’re a natural born writing genius. So much that he gets intimidated by you and feels in danger when you’re not helping him. I also feel this way.”

Changbin sighed slightly, looking down as he played with his hands. “I need 3RACHA badly. It’s really my only chance and I have everything on the line for it. So when you said you didn’t want to do the performance, I started to panic. And that panicking definitely went over the line and-“ he stopped to rub his face with his hands before he placed them down on the table in front of Jisung. He looked him straight in the eyes with his utmost sincerity before he let himself continue with complete honesty. “Jisung, I will fail without you. We  _ need  _ you. I’ll take accountability for everything, I just really want you back.”

“3RACHA isn’t complete without you,” Chan added with softness in his eyes. Jisung liked it when he looked at him like that. Like he was someone he adored. “It doesn’t matter how talented Changbin or I are, we can’t go forward without you with us and we don’t  _ want _ to. It’s lonely without you. It’s only been a few days, but we’ve missed you so much.”

“And it’s not just about that,” Changbin shook his head. “You’re our friend and we don’t want to lose that the most. I know what I said wasn’t something you tell a friend, but I mean it when I say I don’t mean it. I really care about you a lot and the thought of you cutting us off completely drove me insane. I’m  _ really _ sorry, Jisung. You can hate me, that’s fine- I deserve it and much more. But I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

There was a clear expression of desperation and sincerity written on Changbin’s face in the form of direct eye contact and a furrowed brow. His speaking was quicker than normal, fearing that if he didn’t get it out fast enough, Jisung wouldn’t listen.

“You’re just jealous that I don’t think when I’m writing?”

“You literally watched a movie and came up with a song about it before it was really even over,” Changbin deadpanned. “I don’t know many people who can just whip that out with no work beforehand. Really, you’re the only one. You’re something special and I could never compare.”

“See?” Felix whispered by Jisung’s ear. “I told you it wasn’t what you were thinking. Your talent just makes people feel inferior sometimes. They don’t hate you. They really care about you, Sungie.”

Jisung looked towards his lap, trying to hide the bashful smile on his face. For once he felt like he had done something right after all. His work  _ was _ good. He wasn’t walking in the shadows of anyone after all. The news of someone feeling so lost without him made him feel powerful. But above else, he actually felt wanted.

“Now tell them what else,” Felix prodded, tapping at Jisung’s leg for him to continue after noticing the change in his demeanor.

“Right, uh…” Jisung lifted his face just enough to glance up at the two elders. “If it’s still possible… since I accept your apology… I’d like to go through and perform at hyung’s club…”

Both Chan and Changbin froze at that. They had come hoping that they could mend their friendship, but they hadn’t been so sure of Jisung offering to join them again at the club. That was going to be the next thing that Chan was going to try to work on. But this was even better because Jisung beat him to it.

“Seriously?” Changbin’s eyes were sparkling as well as his toothy grin. “You’ll do it?”

“Yeah, I’ve had time to think about it and… it would be wrong of me to let an opportunity like that pass us by.” Jisung looked towards Chan with a hint of worry in his face. “Is it too late?”

“No!” Chan shook his head quickly, nearly jumping up from his seat. “No, no, we’re still on for it. No changes have been made,” he assured, leaving out the part where Minho found out about everything. He figured it would only add onto Jisung’s stress levels.

Jisung sighed in relief at that. So he hadn’t ruined them after all. It was just a lucky call that Chan had talked Minho into keeping them on the schedule.

“We still have a little bit of time left. So come over tomorrow and we’ll get everything prepared?” Changbin asked, looking hopeful at Jisung. “I still have the rest of that cheesecake.”

“Yeah, I’ll call you when I’m on my way,” Jisung nodded. “In the meantime I should head back now. Felix has work in the morning,” he explained as he went ahead and got up from the table.

“Oh,” Changbin looked at Felix with an apologetic expression. “Sorry, we kept you too long, didn’t we?” Now that he knew Felix had gone out here with Jisung instead of staying home to sleep, he felt extremely bad.

“No, it’s okay,” Felix waved with an assuring smile as he slid out behind Jisung. “I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t know everything got resolved. I’m really happy things turned out the way they did in the end.”

_ “G’night, Felix,”  _ Chan waved to him in farewell.

_ “G’night,” _ Felix replied before following Jisung out of the café and back to their apartment.

Changbin collapsed himself down on the table in front of him once he could no longer see his two friends. A heavy sigh left him with his shoulders sagging as he buried his face into his arms.

“You’re really lucky that Jisung learned to be so forgiving from Felix,” Chan noted as he comfortingly rubbed Changbin’s back. “You went way over the line, but still he found it in him to even listen to you.”

“I know I did… and trust me when I say I learned my lesson. I’m going to be more careful and I’ll show you I mean it when I say I really appreciate you guys,” Changbin assured as he pulled himself back up. “Felix really is a miracle worker.”

A small smile painted Chan’s face before he pulled Changbin towards him in a hug. “I know you will. And oh- one more thing,” he said as he pulled back from Changbin so he could view him. “Jisung doesn’t know Minho knows about everything, so don’t mention it to him. At least this way we can save his heart a little bit.”

“I won’t mention anything,” Changbin promised.

  
  
  
  


( And there you have it 😌 )

**Minho 🐈**

( What do I have? )

  
  


( 3RACHA is back in the business and so are you )

  
  


**Minho 🐈**

( I’ve always been in the business, hyung )

( But I’m happy for you. How did you do it? )

  
  


( By letting other people have their way at these guys and me pulling them together 🥰 )

( Felix and Hyunjin played good cop bad cop basically )

( Felix said Hyunjin and Jisung were close to physically fighting so I guess it was intense )

( But in the good news, Jisung said himself that he was fine with performing for you 😊 )

  
  


**Minho 🐈**

( I wish someone would punch Hyunjin just once 😒 )

( I might even pay for it )

( Money-wise, not lawfully speaking )

  
  


( 😐 )

  
  


**Minho 🐈**

( Maybe I’ll get Jeongin to )

( I’ll give him a nice pay raise if he does 🥰 )

  
  


( … right )

( Well, thanks to Hyunjin and Felix, Jisung’s back in )

  
  


**Minho 🐈**

( Oh right. That was the point of this conversation )

( 😇 )

( So is Jisung alright now? )

  
  


( He’s better, but not completely over anything by a long shot )

  
  


**Minho 🐈**

( Good. I was worried for him )

( So I’ll see you in two days )

( Sleep well~ )

  
  


( Never change, Minho 😌 )

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things should be picking up from here(?) There are still more twists and turns to come (*´꒳`*) See you next week~


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back, my friends~ Hope you’re all well ❤︎ Think of this as a transition chapter

* * *

  
The next morning Changbin woke up in a stellar mood. He spent the entire night thinking over everything and becoming certain that he wouldn’t slip up again. Everything was back on track. 3RACHA was patched up and their performance was tomorrow. Today was the day that the trio needed to make sure everything was figured out before they stepped foot in the club. They really were cutting it extremely close, but Changbin had faith in his group members.

With it being early in the morning, Changbin knew there was no way Jisung would be up and ready to get any work done. Nor would he even think about bothering him right now. More than likely Jisung’s phone would be off and well away from him. Picking up his own phone, he saw the time was only a little bit after 8AM. There was still so much time to kill before any preparation work would get done.

Rolling out of the bed, Changbin headed straight for his shower. Even if no one else was up, he still was going to find something to do; he was far too exhilarated to stay in bed for any longer period of time. Letting the warm water wake his skin up, Changbin allowed himself some time to let his mind wander. His mind was filled with anticipation for being on a stage again. After a streak of going to underground performances, it had been a second since he or 3RACHA had done any sort of show.

Once he was all freshened up and awake, Changbin pulled on a plain white shirt and a black cardigan with white horizontal stripes running across it paired with matching black jeans. The target feeling today was: comfortable.

Heading out of the house now, Changbin strolled towards Jisung’s neck of the woods. The only times he had walked the strip of shops and restaurants was when he was with Jisung. Other than that he had never really explored the area. He would always hang around the strip even further away from where Jisung lived.

Just when he thought he had forgotten what he was doing here, a small building caught his eye. There was a small chalkboard standing out front of it with daily specials written across it in a cute pink handwriting. Not letting himself go any further down the strip, he walked into the shop.

A bell dinged overhead at the motion of him opening the door. Once inside he could see a wide glass display filled with all sorts of different breads, pastries, and desserts. The inside wasn’t as spacious as a café, however there were a few small tables lined along the wall. One of them had a couple quietly talking over what looked like a fruit filled pastry. Changbin couldn’t really tell from where he was standing but just from the aroma of the place, he knew it had to be good.

“Good morning!”

A cheerful voice called out from somewhere in the back. Changbin took a few steps forward to try and see who it was when a very familiar face appeared from behind a wall.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Felix was dressed in a beige colored apron that had remnants of flour and crumbs decorated all over it. On his head was a white head wrap of some sort to keep his hair in place; Changbin had no clue what the actual name was. There was a small layer of flour dusted on one of Felix’s cheekbones but Changbin was far too polite to point it out. He would save Felix the embarrassment on that one by pretending to not notice; even if he did find it charming.

“What brings you here, hyung?” There was a warm smile plastered onto the younger’s face as he stopped just behind the counter with something close to a bounce.

It took Changbin a moment of staring to finally formulate a response to his question. “Oh, I just heard that you worked here,” he began, feeling like that statement was the dumbest thing to come out his mouth. Since Felix had been at his house, he knew personally that Changbin didn’t necessarily live around here. There was a bakery closer to him than this one, anyway.

“Also I really wanted to thank you,” he added with a small smile to save himself.

“Huh?” Felix blinked, clearly not following what he was saying. “Thank me for what?”

“Well, I never got to tell you those brownies you made me were to die for.”

Felix suddenly perked up at that. A smile brighter than the sun appeared on his face out of nowhere. “Oh? You liked those? Was the caramel okay? I really wasn’t sure what your style was. I’ve only ever made things for Jisung and Chan hyung, but they eat anything.”

“Are you kidding?” Changbin scoffed with an amused look. “I was ready to attack Jisung after I found out he ate the first batch. And then hyung came over and stole some,” he added with a mutter and crossed arms.

“Chan hyung did?” There was a small frown on his face when he heard that, replacing his previously animated expression. If he listened closely, he could probably hear the sound of his own heart breaking. Changbin missed the way that Felix physically deflated in response to his news due to him currently looking off to the side. How many times would people steal the brownies meant for other people? “I can make more to replace those and bring it to you when they’re busy with something else,” he offered in hope it would make up for his thieving friends. “Did you want any other kind? Dark chocolate? Milk chocolate? Fudge?” He began ticking off the options with the help of his fingers.

“Oh no, it’s okay!” Changbin assured with hands waving in front of him. He was floored by the way Felix was so quick to offer more just because Chan wanted to eat some of them. Even more so with how determined and apologetic he sounded. Was he usually like this?

“Are you sure? I don’t mind. I like baking. I work here, after all,” Felix testified.  _ He’s not saying that because they weren’t that good, right? He may have bought some better ones someplace else. No– that’s silly. I shouldn’t think like that. He seemed genuine when he said he liked them. _

“It’s alright. I appreciated the first batch enough and shouldn’t trouble you anymore just because some got stolen,” Changbin smiled before adding, “also another thing. I really appreciate the way you talked to Jisung. I know you don’t really know me, but it was really nice of you for thinking the way you did about what I said to him.”

“I see the good in people,” Felix shrugged simply though it was clear he was trying his best to conceal a bashful look from appearing on his face. “If it’s someone close to him like you, I doubt that there’s really any ill intentions anywhere. You don’t seem like a bad person.”

So Jisung was right when he said Felix was the epitome of sunshine. There he was without really knowing who Changbin was, yet he still believed in him enough to try and sway Jisung’s mind a bit. Being a baker was the right career choice for him, Changbin thought. He seemed to be just as sweet as the things he made.

“Still,” Changbin let out a breath of a chuckle. “It was really nice of you to get involved like that and I won’t forget what you did. It really means a lot to me that Jisung is back working with us. I was worried he wouldn’t come back at all and we had lost him as a friend because of me,” he added as he scratched the baseline of his hair.

“Don’t forget to thank Hyunjin too,” Felix pointed out. “He did a lot of work that I know I wouldn’t be able to do.”

It still baffled Changbin’s mind that Hyunjin was able to help get through to Jisung by brute force. But brute force was also what helped get himself to a clear mindset. It was no question that Hyunjin and Jisung matched fairly well with one another. They knew how the other worked.

“Right. I’ll do that. Anyways,” Changbin said as he browsed the selection in the glass display. Despite the bakery being on the smaller scale of usual sized ones, there was still a nice selection of goodies from breakfast items, to pastries, to desserts; all separated out in their own little section in the L-shaped case. “Recommend me something.”

“Ah sure,” Felix nodded once as he looked around as well, following Changbin’s lead. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Something sweet.”

Felix couldn’t help but to giggle at that. “Most of this is sweet, hyung. What else?”

“Something you personally made this morning,” Changbin tried again.

At this point Changbin was hoping Felix would pick something for him. It all looked too good for him to decide on his own. If he had to pick something himself, he might end up buying far more than he needed. He watched as Felix shuffled around behind the cases.

“I promise everything here is good regardless of who made it.”

Changbin merely shrugged, seemingly not changing his preference of what he wanted.

Felix did his absolute best to keep his cheeks from reddening in shade. Why did Changbin have to specifically ask for something he made? He swore Seungmin’s were just as good, if not even better in some things. Trying to ignore his annoying heart, he stopped at a case that had breakfast items displayed in it.

“These blueberry muffins I made earlier,” Felix pointed to the tray of them after a moment’s thought. “They have sugar dust sprinkled on top of them. Also they’re a part of our special today so if you buy three I give you a free one.”

“Those then. All four.”

If he got all four then he could have two and give one to Jisung and Chan. Or he could have one, and someone else have two. That equation would still have to be worked out some more when his friends make it to his place. It all really depended on who was hungry for two.

Cheerfully Felix carefully packed all four into a deep pink box and set it down on the counter to ring it up. As Changbin was paying for it Felix stuck it into a bag. He held it out to him with the receipt and his sunny smile.

“Enjoy~”

Even with having such a deep voice Felix still managed to bring out a silky sound and put it to his words. Without knowing what else to say, Changbin gave him a simple bow of thanks and headed out of the bakery with the bag in hand.

Once the coast was clear, Seungmin came out from behind the corner with a sly smirk on his face. Putting an arm around Felix’s shoulders he asked, “who was that? He was cute.”

“Who?” Felix shot his head around to look at him in an instant. “You thought he was cute?”

“Not like that, don’t be silly,” Seungmin pinched Felix’s cheek lightly before noticing the flour dusted right above it. He figured the mystery boy must have been nice enough to not mention it so Seungmin took the honors of wiping it away. “You seemed to know him. But he’s not a regular. Actually, I’ve never seen him before.”

“That was just Changbin. You know, Jisung’s friend he’s in a group with.”

Seungmin put a hand to his mouth in shock. “The guy you knocked out?” He hurried to the window to see if he could still see him. But he had already disappeared somewhere down the strip. “What did he want? You said he’s not mad at you or anything, right? He didn’t look mad. Really he looked the opposite.”

“You mean happy?”

Seungmin merely shrugged instead of giving an audible answer.

“He just wanted to tell me those brownies I made were good and to thank me for helping get Jisung back together with him and Chan hyung.”

Seungmin walked back behind the counter, humming in thought. “I knew he would love them. You didn’t want to go on break then?”

“What?” Felix looked back to the simple black analog clock overhead. “It’s hardly past 10 o’clock. You know I usually take mine later.”

“Never mind,” Seungmin shook his head, deciding not to entertain his thoughts anymore. “Come help me back here.”

  
  
  


( Hyung how could you 😿)

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( How could I do what 😦 )

  
  


( You ate hyung’s brownies 😢 )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( 😓 not all of them )

( Just a couple )

( Maybe 3 😅 )

  
  


( First Jisung, now you ☹️ )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( They were so good 🤤 )

( Besides, Changbin’s a sharer ☺️ )

  
  


( 😔 )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( Love you ❤️ )

( And your brownies )

  
  


( Those were for him 😞 )

**My Main Mate 🤟**

( He had the rest gone before I even got there )

  
  


( All* of those were for him 😢 )

  
  


**My Main Mate 🤟**

( 😅 )

( I couldn’t help myself… )

  
  


-

  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

They’re all gone 💀

**Chan** @cb97

Your files???

**Changbin** @spearb

@cb97 Why would you even put that in the air

**Chan** @cb97

I’m not a mind reader 😓

  
  
  


Changbin couldn’t believe this. The entire box of muffins he had bought; all gone. The perpetrator? Himself. He sat at the kitchen counter with his face in his hands, wondering how he had just eaten all four muffins. It was as if they had vanished within a blink of an eye. There was no memory of him eating all four.

They weren’t even small. These were decent sized muffins that fit in the entire area of his palm. He should not have just eaten all four. Especially when he had planned on sharing with Jisung and Chan. Now he had a guilty conscience but a full stomach.

“I swear he put crack into these things and that’s why I keep trying to eat all of it. That’s definitely what that ‘sugar dust on top’ had to be,” Changbin huffed as he folded his arms down on the granite countertop and rested his head down on them.

“Should I get more? It’s only about 15 minutes away…” Changbin thought aloud as he began trying to plan his time in his head. Really he felt so bad for eating them all. But he had to make sure to be ready for Chan and Jisung whenever they would head his way, though. “Would that be strange if I did go back? God they’re so good… And Jisung gets these all the time? Why am I the one having to buy him cheesecake then?”

His thought process was rudely interrupted by his phone going off in his pocket. Lazily he dug it out and looked at the screen. It was Chan calling. He pressed on the accept button and put it on speaker so he could go back to resting his head on his arms.

“Yes?”

“Changbinnie, are you awake?”

“I’ve been awake for...” he didn’t even know what time it was now that he thought about it. “Since a little past 8.”

“Oh wow. So are you home? I got Jisung with me, we’re on the way. But we can stall for a while if you’re out.”

“I’m home. Come on.”

“Cool. We’ll be there soon. Bye~”

Changbin watched the screen click off with the end of the call before he let out another drawn out, defeated sigh. “I really wanted to get more…”

To make himself feel better, Changbin shoved the empty box and bag as far into the trash as he could. If it was out of sight then it was out of mind. This way he wouldn’t have to explain why he ate the entire box without saving his friends any.

  
  
  


**Changbin**

@spearb

Like it never even happened 🤫

**Minho** @meowho

What is wrong with you

**Changbin** @spearb

@meowho Back off

  
  
  


In the end, Changbin didn’t have to worry about saving anything for Jisung. The moment the boy walked in he went straight past Changbin in favor of the refrigerator in search of his abandoned cheesecake. Taking up the container, he hugged it in his arms, pressing his cheek against it as he did so. Hard feelings were another thing Changbin could apparently forget about.

“I’m sorry I left you here all alone, please forgive me.”

“It’s a cheesecake, Jisung,” Chan deadpanned as he strolled in behind him. “It doesn’t hold grudges.”

“Good, so I can freely eat the rest of this,” Jisung smiled as he set the container down to get himself a big piece to make up for lost time. It wasn’t like he had breakfast yet or anything; he could eat it all. “By the way,” he said once he put everything away and moved to where Changbin was standing. “I promise I’m going to do a lot better. I’m going to make a deal with you. If I forget any of my lines tomorrow, I’ll give up cheesecake for a week. No– a month. I’ll give it up for a month.”

“Ohh?” Changbin widened his eyes at the bargain and crossed his arms in thought. “Will you really be able to go on a cheesecake fast for that long?” He asked in a joking manner.

It was a surprise to see Jisung like this, to say the least. Changbin had prepared to have him awkwardly come in and maybe be standoffish. But instead here he was being serious in trying to prove himself. He wondered who was responsible for getting him able to do this. Was it more of Felix’s work?

“No,” Jisung shook his head as if it were that simple. “But I know how much this performance means to all of us so I can work on not messing it up.”

Changbin felt his insides melt at that and pulled him into a hug. He was careful not to knock the plate in his hands. It was such a blessing to him that Jisung was here with them while being nothing but serious. Changbin’s future relied heavily on him and in this moment, he swore he would never take his friend for granted in the future. Though Jisung may tend to be on the goofy side, Changbin knew what he could do and wouldn’t trade him for anything.

“Awe, Jisung. Even if you do forget your lines that won’t mess it up. Just do your best. And I know you’ll be amazing like always so don’t worry about anything.”

Chan couldn’t help but to join in on the group hug, embracing the other two lovingly. It felt so good that the younger two were no longer fighting but now back to supporting each other. That was the way things were supposed to be. This moment only reminded him of why he specifically sought them out. They complimented each other. All three of them did.

“I’m really proud of both of you,” Chan squeezed them once more before detaching himself from the two of them. “Now come on, let’s make sure we have all of this down before tomorrow comes.”

  
  


**Chan**

@cb97

We’re back on track

[ image attached ]

**Minho** @meowho

I love to see it 😌

  
  
  


**Minho** 🐈

( Can I expect good things? )

  
  


( You’re going to love it )

( They worked really hard )

  
  


**Minho 🐈**

( You mean you all did )

( Who knows, hyung, you guys might set the new standard for who I hire 😚 )

  
  


( If only 🤧 )

( We’ll get to that degree one day )

**Minho 🐈**

( I know you will. And I’ll be here saying I knew about your potential all along 😉 )

( Try to get some rest, you insomniac )

( You don’t have to sleep, just turn that mind of yours off )

( I know you’ll stay up thinking about it all night unless I say something )

  
  


( 😅 )

( I’ll see you tomorrow )

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next handful of chapters should be very fun and I hope you look forward to them (*´ω`*) Next chapter almost doubles the length of this one~ [I hope that’s okay]
> 
> I’ll see you next Monday! Thanks for tuning in~


End file.
